Of all French legal forms, the SASU (Société par Actions Simplifiée Unipersonnelle) is one of the most popular for business start-ups.
If the SASU is the perfect fit for your business project, what about the burdens it entails? Don't panic, we've got you covered!
To clear up any doubts you may have, we take a look at SASU social security charges, the remuneration of the company's president and the dividends generated.
In other words, the three essential points for understanding how SASU charges work
Like other legal forms of enterprise, the SASU requires a certain number of charges to be paid. And don't forget to include tax charges in your accounts.
If the sole shareholder is also chairman of the SASU, he or she will not be considered as a self-employed worker, but as a manager assimilated to a salaried employee. This subtlety offers the advantage of affiliation to the general social security system, rather than the RSI system often decried by the self-employed.
Thus, the social charges for a SASU relate to pension contributions and benefits, which the directors pay in the same way as employees. These social security charges also concern the remuneration of the chairman, who is treated in the same way as an employee.
This remuneration will be subject to the same taxation, and in the absence of remuneration, the SASU will have to pay all social charges.
It should also be noted that the director of a SASU, while acting as a corporate officer, cannot benefit from unemployment insurance.
First of all, it's important to understand that the remuneration of the chairman of a SASU is not the same as a salary. Indeed, a salary obliges the SASU to draw up an employment contract, whereas remuneration is linked to a regulated agreement.
In order to receive remuneration, the Chairman of a SASU is required to sign a regulated agreement. This agreement is exempt from all publicity and must be recorded in the company's register of decisions. The Chairman of the SASU must therefore check that the principle and terms of his future remuneration are in line with the provisions in place. If there is nothing to prevent this, and if it is included in the rules of the agreement, the Chairman can then pay himself a remuneration.
Naturally, this remuneration generates charges similar to those of salaried employees. Indeed, being affiliated to the general social security scheme, the Chairman benefits from the same social protection. As a salaried employee, the Chairman will be subject to 82% social security contributions on his net remuneration, i.e. 54% employer contributions and 28% employee contributions. By way of example, if you pay yourself a net income of €1,000, the cost to the company will be €1,820, of which €820 will go to URSSAF.
If the SASU chairman doesn't pay himself any remuneration, there are no social security contributions to pay.
If the chairman of the SASU also acts as sole shareholder, dividends may be paid.
These dividends may supplement or replace remuneration, since they relate to income received based on share ownership. However, under no circumstances may these shares be paid to a non-member chairman. In fact, they are not linked to the Chairman's activity, but to his position as a partner. It is therefore up to the sole shareholder to decide whether or not to pay out the SASU's profits in the form of dividends, depending on the terms and conditions of payment.
Unlike remuneration, dividends paid to the Chairman of a SASU are not covered by social security contributions.
In return, you can expect other types of deductions. Firstly, social security contributions of 15%, including CSG and CRDS, will have to be paid.
Once dividends have been paid to the Chairman, he will be subject to income tax under all SASU tax regimes.
Finally, these same dividends will be subject to a 21% withholding tax in the form of a tax credit.
There's nothing like a concrete example to give you a good idea of the contribution system: If the chairman receives €10,000 net in dividends, this will cost the company €11,550.
It's important to consider the costs of all legal forms before making your final choice of company status.
With SASU, there are three elements to consider:
- social security charges
- Chairman's remuneration
- dividends
Each of these points has its own specificities and subtleties that you need to study carefully.
Now that you know all about SASU charges, there's no doubt you'll make the right choice!
Written by our expert Maeva Girardot
November 17, 2017
