Many entrepreneurs who sell their company immediately pay between 30% and 34% capital gains tax, via the flat tax or the progressive scale. But some - the best supported - pay nothing at all. Not because they cheat. Because they anticipate. And they use a perfectly legal tax mechanism: article 150-0 B ter of the French General Tax Code.
How does it work? Before selling, the executive contributes his shares to a holding company he controls. This triggers a tax deferral: the tax is calculated, but not collected by the tax authorities. And as long as certain conditions are met, the deferral lasts - sometimes for life.
In practical terms, this means that an exiter can dispose of 100% of the value of his sale immediately, without losing €1 to the taxman in the short term. And if, at a later date, he gives the shares to his children or dies, the deferral can even be purged definitively.
But the system is technical, rigid and closely monitored. A simple oversight, bad timing, a poorly-qualified investment... and the taxman reclaims the tax, with interest on arrears. Hence the importance of sound advice.
Those who don't pay capital gains tax are not tax evaders. They are lucid founders, structured and supported. You can do it too - as long as you prepare your exit with the same rigor as the creation and development of your company.
Photo : Kelly Sikkema