EURL Social Security: Understanding the status of the sole managing partner
The choice of a company’s legal structure has a direct impact on the social security system applicable to the manager. The EURL (Entreprise Unipersonnelle à Responsabilité Limitée – limited liability single-member company) has a number of special features in terms of social protection. Understanding these particularities will help you optimize your status and anticipate your obligations in terms of social security contributions. EURL’s social security system depends primarily on the status of the sole shareholder and his or her position within the company.
What is the EURL social security system?
The EURL social security system covers all the rules governing the social protection of the sole managing partner. This system defines the social contributions to be paid and the benefits to which you are entitled. In an EURL, the sole shareholder owns 100% of the company’s capital, a fact that directly influences his or her social security coverage. The manager’s social status depends on his or her relationship with the company and actual remuneration, creating a specific configuration compared with multi-person structures.
The sole managing partner: a self-employed worker
As manager and sole partner, you are automatically affiliated to the system for self-employed workers (TNS). You pay contributions to the Sécurité sociale des indépendants (SSI) scheme, which differs from the general employee scheme in terms of the contributions it pays and the level of benefits it offers.
Calculating social security contributions
Your social security contributions are calculated on the basis of your management remuneration and dividends received. For remuneration, the overall rate of contributions represents around 45% of professional income. This percentage covers health and maternity insurance, family allowances, basic and supplementary pensions, disability and death insurance, and CSG-CRDS. Since 2013, dividends in excess of 10% of share capital, additional paid-in capital and sums paid into partners’ current accounts have also been subject to social security contributions. Provisional contributions, calculated on the basis of N-2 income and then regularized the following year, require cash flow anticipation. Using professional accounting services enables you to optimize these calculations and avoid reporting errors.
Social benefits for self-employed workers
As a self-employed worker, you benefit from comprehensive social security coverage, albeit less advantageous than that provided by the general scheme. Daily sickness benefits represent around 1/730th of average annual income, i.e. a much lower amount than under the general scheme. They start after a three-day waiting period and are capped. The basic pension is calculated according to the same rules as for salaried employees, but the supplementary pension generally offers lower benefits with less favorable replacement rates. You do not contribute to unemployment insurance, so you do not receive Pôle emploi benefits when you stop working. This lack of unemployment protection is one of the main differences with employee status, and often justifies taking out supplementary provident policies to strengthen your social security cover.
The non-partner manager: assimilated employee
In the exceptional case where you appoint a third-party (non-partner) manager to your EURL, he or she will be covered by the general Social Security scheme as an assimilated employee. In practice, this configuration is still very rare. In this case, the non-partner manager benefits from extended social security protection, but incurs higher social security charges than a single-partner TNS manager.
Optimizing the EURL social security system
To optimize your social security system, you need to choose between remuneration and dividends. Paying a salary generates social security contributions, but allows you to build up pension rights. Dividends, which are partially subject to social security contributions, offer a potentially more advantageous tax treatment. The optimum balance depends on your personal situation, your financial goals and your retirement horizon. Precise calculation of net taxable income is the basis for this optimization. The complexity of the trade-off between remuneration and dividends warrants professional guidance, particularly to anticipate the risks of a potential tax audit.
Compensation strategies
Several strategies are available to optimize your social protection. You can opt for a minimum remuneration supplemented by dividends, thereby reducing your immediate social security contributions, but this approach limits your pension rights. Conversely, you can opt for a high level of remuneration, which maximizes your social protection while increasing your expenses. The SARL de famille and its social security contributions offer an interesting alternative in certain family contexts. Madelin contracts allow you to supplement your social protection with tax deductibility. The optimum balance depends on your personal situation and wealth objectives.
Impact of legal structure
The choice between EURL and other corporate legal structures has a significant impact on your social security system. The SASU (Société par Actions Simplifiée Unipersonnelle) is the main alternative: it automatically places the chairman under the general scheme, with higher charges (around 80% compared with 45% for EURL) but better social protection. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, which need to be analyzed according to your priorities between cost of contributions and level of protection.
Reporting obligations and payment of contributions
As sole managing partner of an EURL, you are required to declare your professional income each year via the Déclaration Sociale des Indépendants (DSI), generally in May. This declaration is used to calculate your definitive contributions and to regularize provisional contributions paid the previous year. Payment is made either monthly or quarterly by direct debit. Any late or non-payment will incur surcharges and penalties of up to 5% of the amount due, plus interest for late payment. Strict compliance with your declaratory obligations avoids administrative and financial complications with URSSAF.
Special cases and situations
Certain situations modify the application of the EURL standard social security system. If you combine salaried employment with EURL management, you contribute to both schemes, but benefit from a ceiling on social security contributions. Retired people setting up an EURL remain affiliated to the TNS regime, but can benefit from partial exemptions subject to income conditions. The tax choice between corporate income tax and income tax also influences your contribution base: with corporate income tax, only the remuneration paid is taken into account (excluding dividends), whereas with income tax, the entire profit is used as the basis for calculation, even if it is not distributed.
Anticipating and securing your social protection
Mastering the EURL social security system requires a long-term vision and appropriate professional support. A chartered accountant or tax lawyer can help you optimize the balance between current contributions and future pension and contingency needs. Anticipating your retirement, passing on your business and building up precautionary savings must all be part of a comprehensive wealth plan. Frequent legislative changes require regular monitoring to adapt your strategy and secure your social protection over the long term.
Frequently asked questions
The EURL social security system raises many questions for entrepreneurs. This section answers the most frequently asked questions about the status of the sole managing partner, social security contributions and possible optimization strategies.
What is the social security system for an EURL?
The social security system of an EURL refers to all the social protection rules applicable to the sole managing partner. Unlike salaried employees, the manager of an EURL is covered by the system for non-salaried workers (TNS), and is affiliated to the Sécurité sociale des indépendants (SSI). This system determines the compulsory social contributions, calculated on the manager’s remuneration, as well as the social benefits to which he or she is entitled: health insurance, basic and supplementary pensions, family allowances and disability-death benefits.
What is the status of the sole managing partner of an EURL?
The sole managing partner of an EURL has the status of “travailleur non salarié” (TNS). He is not considered an employee of his own company, and therefore does not benefit from the general Social Security system. They pay social security contributions on their actual remuneration and, where applicable, on part of any dividends received. This status entails lower social security contributions than an assimilated employee, but also offers generally less extensive social protection, particularly in terms of unemployment insurance.
What is the difference between the TNS regime and the assimilated employee regime in EURL?
The TNS regime (EURL) differs from the assimilé salarié regime (SASU) in several respects. The TNS pays contributions to the SSI at a rate of around 45% of remuneration, while the assimilé salarié pays contributions to the régime général at a rate of around 80%. In return, the assimilated employee scheme offers better social protection, including access to unemployment insurance under certain conditions. The choice between these two schemes depends on the entrepreneur’s financial strategy, level of remuneration and social protection needs.
What are the social security contributions for a EURL manager?
EURL managers’ social security contributions represent around 45% of their net remuneration. They include health and maternity insurance, family allowances, basic and supplementary pensions, disability and death, and CSG-CRDS. These contributions are calculated on the manager’s remuneration and, since 2013, also on the portion of dividends exceeding 10% of share capital and current account contributions. Payment is made monthly or quarterly to URSSAF, with an annual adjustment based on actual income.
How to optimize the social security system for EURL managers?
Optimizing the social security system in EURL requires a strategic approach. By choosing between remuneration and dividends, you can modulate the amount of social security contributions, bearing in mind that dividends are only subject to social security contributions above 10% of share capital. Controlling the minimum remuneration required to validate pension quarters is also a point of attention. This optimization must be coordinated with the applicable tax regime to ensure a coherent overall strategy. It is advisable to consult a tax lawyer to draw up a personalized strategy that takes into account your asset situation, your social protection objectives and the overall tax implications.
Can the EURL manager benefit from unemployment insurance?
As a matter of principle, the sole managing partner of an EURL is not eligible for unemployment insurance because of his TNS status. However, there are exceptions: if the manager combines his or her corporate mandate with a separate employment contract for genuine technical functions and an effective subordinate relationship, he or she may contribute to the unemployment insurance scheme. This situation remains complex and strictly regulated. Alternatively, the managing director can take out private unemployment insurance for company directors, to protect himself against professional hazards.
What are the EURL manager’s reporting obligations?
EURL managers must comply with a number of tax and social security obligations. They must file an annual tax return including their professional income, which will serve as the basis for calculating final social security contributions. They must also declare their estimated income to URSSAF on a monthly or quarterly basis, in order to calculate provisional contributions. These declaratory obligations are essential to avoid penalties and ensure correct regularization at the end of the year.