Paying yourself as a company director: how to choose well
Paying yourself when you run your own company is about more than picking an amount. It is a trade-off between three realities: what you need to live on, what the payment costs the company, and what you actually keep once personal income tax and social security contributions are paid. The right choice differs from one director to the next, and from one year to the next.
The different ways to pay yourself
A company director has several levers, which can be combined. None is good or bad in itself: it all depends on the company's profit, your private needs and your plans.
Deductible for the company, taxed in your personal income tax and subject to self-employed social contributions. It is also what opens the right to the reduced corporate tax rate.
Paid out after corporate tax, with a final withholding tax. Several regimes reduce that withholding tax under conditions (VVPRbis, liquidation reserve).
Car, housing, phone, computer: they are valued on a flat-rate basis and taxed as remuneration, often at a lower cost than their real value.
Individual pension commitment (IPT/EIP) or supplementary pension for the self-employed (PLCI/VAPZ): capital built up with favourable tax treatment, within the limits of the 80 % rule.
Renting premises you own to the company generates property income, subject to recharacterisation rules if the rent exceeds certain ceilings.
Reimbursing costs genuinely incurred for the company (home office, travel) is not remuneration, provided they are supported by evidence or set at accepted flat rates.
Minimum pay and the reduced corporate tax rate
An SME can benefit from a reduced rate of 20 % on the first 100,000 € of taxable profit, instead of the standard rate of 25 %. One condition is often decisive: the company must pay at least one director who is a natural person a minimum remuneration.
The threshold
The threshold used to be 45,000 € gross per year. The recent reform raises it to 50,000 €, with annual indexation planned. If the remuneration is below the threshold, it must at least equal the company's taxable profit. The effective dates have shifted from one text to the next: for each financial year, we check the exact amount that applies to your company.
Dividends: regimes with reduced withholding tax
The standard withholding tax on dividends is 30 %. Two mechanisms reduce it, provided they are prepared from incorporation or several years ahead. Both were amended by the programme law of 28 May 2026.
| Route | Withholding tax | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary dividend | 30 % | No particular conditions. |
| VVPRbis | Reduced rate after a waiting period, raised from 15 % to 18 % for dividends allocated from 1 July 2026 | Shares issued for a cash contribution in an SME, since 1 July 2013, fully paid up and registered. |
| Liquidation reserve | 10 % levy when the reserve is set up, then a reduced withholding tax on distribution | For recent reserves, the waiting period falls to 3 years and the exit withholding tax rises (9.8 % under the programme law), about 18 % in total. Older reserves keep the previous regime. |
Benefits in kind and company cars
Benefits are valued using statutory flat rates. For company cars, deductibility now depends mainly on the order date and the vehicle's emissions: zero-emission vehicles remain favoured, while fossil-fuel cars ordered recently gradually lose their deductibility. A benefit can stay attractive for the director while costing the company more than it seems: both sides count.
Building your pension through the company
With an individual pension commitment, the company builds up capital for its director, with deductible premiums and reduced taxation on payout. The amount is capped by the 80 % rule: statutory and supplementary pension together may not exceed 80 % of the last normal gross annual remuneration. Remuneration that is too low therefore also limits your supplementary pension.
Our method for finding the right balance
- 1.Start from your net needs
How much do you really need each month, after tax? That is the starting point, before any optimisation.
- 2.Weigh the reduced rate
Compare the corporate tax saving with the personal cost of remuneration at the threshold level.
- 3.Top up with dividends
Use VVPRbis or the liquidation reserve where the conditions are met and the time horizon allows.
- 4.Build the pension
Size an IPT or PLCI consistent with your remuneration and the 80 % rule.
- 5.Review every year
Thresholds are indexed and rules change often: this year's ideal mix is not necessarily next year's.
“The best remuneration is not the least taxed one, but the one that gives the director what they need without weakening the company.”
This article is general and for information only. It does not constitute personalised tax, accounting or legal advice.
