SASU: Dividends vs Salary — What Strategy in 2025?
A SASU allows for tax optimisation that micro-enterprise cannot offer: choosing how you pay yourself, between salary and dividends. This choice directly affects your social charges, social coverage and income tax. Here is how to make the right call.
The SASU president's status: employee-equivalent
The SASU president is affiliated with the general Social Security scheme as an employee-equivalent (assimilé-salarié). In practice:
- They pay contributions like an employee: employer charges (~42%) + employee charges (~22%) on gross salary
- They benefit from near-employee social protection (health, maternity, pension, disability)
- They have no access to unemployment insurance (like all company directors)
For a gross salary of €3,000/month:
- Total cost to the SASU: 3,000 × 1.42 = €4,260/month
- Net received by the president: 3,000 × 0.78 = €2,340/month (before income tax)
Social charges are deductible from the SASU's profit, reducing corporate tax (IS).
SASU dividends: the 30% flat tax
Dividends paid by a SASU to its sole shareholder are subject to the Flat-Rate Levy (PFU) of 30%, split as follows:
- 12.8% income tax
- 17.2% social levies (CSG/CRDS)
Key point: unlike EURL dividends, SASU dividends are not subject to TNS social contributions. There are no pension, health or disability contributions generated by dividends — which is simultaneously a fiscal advantage and a social protection gap.
Corporate tax (IS): what the company pays first
Before distributing dividends, the SASU pays IS on its profits:
| Profit band | IS rate 2025 |
|---|---|
| Up to €42,500 | 15% (SME reduced rate) |
| Above €42,500 | 25% |
The 15% reduced rate applies when turnover is below €10 million and share capital is fully paid up — conditions easily met by freelance SASUs.
Calculation example:
- SASU profit after salary and charges: €50,000
- IS: 42,500 × 15% + 7,500 × 25% = 6,375 + 1,875 = €8,250
- Distributable profit: 50,000 − 8,250 = €41,750
- PFU on dividends: 41,750 × 30% = €12,525
- Net dividends received: €29,225
Full simulation: salary + dividends vs salary alone
Take a freelancer with a SASU generating €150,000 in revenue, €20,000 in operating costs, leaving €130,000 before remuneration.
Scenario A — All salary (€3,000/month gross)
- Annual salary cost: 3,000 × 12 × 1.42 = €51,120
- IS taxable profit: 130,000 − 51,120 = €78,880
- IS: 42,500 × 15% + 36,380 × 25% = €15,470
- Undistributed profit: €63,410 (reserved)
- President net: 3,000 × 0.78 × 12 = €28,080/year before income tax
Scenario B — Minimum salary + dividends
- Gross salary €1,500/month → annual cost: 1,500 × 12 × 1.42 = €25,560
- IS taxable profit: 130,000 − 25,560 = €104,440
- IS: 42,500 × 15% + 61,940 × 25% = €21,860
- Gross dividends: 104,440 − 21,860 = €82,580
- PFU: 82,580 × 30% = €24,774
- Net dividends: €57,806
- Net salary: 1,500 × 0.78 × 12 = €14,040
- Total net: €71,846/year before residual income tax
The minimum salary + dividends strategy generates significantly higher net income in this example.
Why not distribute 100% as dividends?
Distributing exclusively as dividends (no salary at all) is legally possible, but carries two serious risks:
Insufficient social coverage: with no salary, you accumulate no pension rights, no daily sick pay, no disability coverage. A long illness or accident without coverage can be financially devastating.
URSSAF reclassification: if your activity is real and you draw no remuneration, URSSAF can reclassify dividends as director's remuneration, triggering a reassessment with social contributions and penalties.
Best practice: pay yourself a minimum salary that generates adequate entitlements (most SASU presidents opt for between €1,500 and €3,000 gross/month depending on their coverage needs), then supplement with year-end dividends.
Use our legal structure comparator to simulate your net income across micro-enterprise, SASU and EURL at your projected revenue level.