Quick answer — leaving France with a SASU or EURL. Your SASU or EURL can stay French after you leave, with you as a non-resident president or manager. France's exit tax (article 167 bis of the French tax code) applies if you have been French tax resident for at least 6 of the last 10 years and your shares are worth €800,000 or more, or you hold at least 50% of a company's profits. Payment is often deferred automatically, but where you manage the company from matters.
The SASU and EURL are the default vehicles for French freelancers, consultants and small founders. When their owner decides to live abroad — in Portugal, Spain, Dubai or nowhere fixed — the same question always comes up: can I keep my French company? The short answer is yes. The real answer depends on three things: whether you are caught by the exit tax, where the company will actually be run from, and how you will pay yourself once you are a non-resident.
France does not force a company to move or close when its owner leaves. A SASU can perfectly well have a president living abroad. But France will keep taxing the company's profits at French corporate tax rates, will withhold tax on your dividends, and may tax your shares on departure. Your new country may also claim part of the company's profits if you run it from there.
This guide does not cover owners staying in France, salaried employees moving abroad, or settled expats. For your personal tax move, such as leaving France for Portugal, see our relocation guides.
For other countries and the general framework, see our guide to relocating your business abroad.
If you are also comparing another EU neighbour's rules, see the Belgian SRL with a non-resident manager or the German GmbH when you emigrate.
The exit tax applies when you transfer your tax domicile out of France if:
It taxes the unrealised gain on your shares as if you had sold them on departure, at the flat tax rate on capital income (income tax plus social contributions). You declare it on a specific form with your departure-year income tax return.
Deferral: payment is deferred automatically when you move to an EU or EEA country, or to a country that has signed administrative assistance and tax recovery agreements with France. For other destinations, deferral is available on request, usually with a guarantee. The deferred tax is discharged if you keep the shares for a set period after leaving: two years where the shares are worth up to about €2.57 million, five years above that. Selling, donating or receiving certain distributions during that period can make it payable.
Watch the 50% criterion. Owning 100% of your own SASU or EURL means you hold more than 50% of its profits, so you meet the exit-tax test whatever the company is worth. If the company's value is close to what you put in, the taxable gain — and the tax — may be small, but the declaration is still required. Have the company valued at your departure date.
A French company is taxed in France on profits from businesses carried on in France. If you, as president, now live in Portugal and do all the work from there, two risks appear: your new country may consider that the company is effectively managed from its territory, or that it has a permanent establishment there. Keep decisions documented, use a French registered office, and check the tax treaty with your new country.
Keep a French registered office (domiciliation), update your address with the company register and the tax office for non-residents (SIP des non-résidents), and keep filing corporate tax returns and annual accounts in France.
Amounts are indicative.
Compared with closing the SASU and invoicing from a new company in your new country, keeping it means continuing to pay French corporate tax. That can make sense if your new country taxes companies more heavily, or if the SASU holds contracts, a brand or value worth preserving. If not, closing and starting again abroad is often cheaper in the long run.
Start six to twelve months before your departure date.
French banks generally keep a company account open when the president moves abroad, but will update KYC and may ask for proof of your new tax residence. Some online business banks restrict accounts managed by non-residents. Check your bank's terms before you leave and open a backup account if needed.
The France Founder Exit Guide covers every step, form and deadline in the 12 months around your departure — get it when you plan your SASU's exit with Heavnn.
Yes. A SASU can have a president who lives abroad. The company stays French, keeps paying French corporate tax and filing French accounts, and needs a French registered office.
Potentially, yes. The exit tax applies if you hold shares worth €800,000 or more, or at least 50% of a company's profits. Owning 100% of your own SASU meets the 50% test, so the declaration may be required even if the company's value and the resulting tax are small.
Payment is deferred automatically for moves to the EU, the EEA and countries with assistance agreements with France, and on request elsewhere. The deferred tax is discharged after two or five years depending on the value of the shares, provided they are not sold.
France withholds tax on dividends paid to non-resident individuals, at a rate usually reduced by the tax treaty. Your new country then taxes the dividend, typically with a credit for the French withholding.
If the SASU has little value or reserves and the business can restart abroad, closing it is often simpler. If it holds clients, contracts or significant value, keeping it may be better. Compare the total tax of both options before you leave.
Leaving France with a company works best when the exit tax, the last dividends and your new residency are planned together. Heavnn models them side by side.
Plan your company's exit with Heavnn →
This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rules are summarised as of October 2026.
