Executive & Employee Compensation
Axtead advises executives, founders, corporate officers, and key employees on the structuring and optimization of their global compensation packages, integrating legal, tax, and operational challenges both in France and internationally.
Employee Share Ownership & Equity Incentives
We assist in the design, implementation, and review of employee share ownership mechanisms, including:
- Free Share Plans (AGA / RSUs);
- Founder Warrants (BSPCE);
- Stock Options and other value-sharing instruments.
Our objective is to guarantee full legal, tax, and social security compliance while ensuring these schemes align with your talent retention and incentive strategies.
Global Mobility & Cross-Border Compensation
We advise corporate groups and executives facing international mobility or cross-border remuneration challenges:
- Structuring split payroll arrangements;
- Optimizing impatriate packages (preferential tax regimes, neutralization of dual social security contributions);
- Analyzing tax and social security impacts in France and host/home countries.
We ensure that remuneration flows are secure, legally compliant, and tax efficient.
Executive & Director Remuneration
We perform in-depth reviews of existing remuneration structures (director’s fees, salaries, dividends, service companies, etc.) to identify:
- Recharacterization risks;
- Optimization levers;
- Necessary adjustments based on the executive’s personal and social protection goals.
We then design bespoke structures, including:
- Drafting of corporate minutes;
- Preparing intra-group service agreements;
- Modeling financial flow.
Questions
To align your employees with the company’s performance, several mechanisms can be considered, depending on your objectives (retention, motivation, equity alignment, etc.):
- Free Share Plans (AGA / RSUs);
- Founder Warrants (BSPCE)—specifically designed for startups and innovative SMEs;
- Stock Options;
- Performance Shares;
- Profit-Sharing and Incentive Schemes (Intéressement/Participation);
Each mechanism is governed by a specific legal and tax framework and must be tailored to:
- The size and maturity of the company;
- Its corporate structure;
- Its governance and HR policy objectives.
At Axtead, we design bespoke, compliant, and coherent schemes that align the interests of employees with those of shareholders, while ensuring total tax security.
An executive can receive compensation in several forms:
- Remuneration for corporate office (managing director, chairman);
- Salary (where an employment contract is applicable);
- Dividends;
- Service provision through a personal holding company, where appropriate.
Optimizing your compensation requires a holistic analysis that takes into account:
- The executive’s legal status;
- The holding and ownership structure;
- Wealth management goals (social security, retirement, estate planning, etc.);
- The constantly evolving regulatory framework.
At Axtead, we perform comprehensive reviews of existing remuneration schemes and, where necessary, propose secure and tax-efficient alternative structures.
Yes. A holding company may charge management fees to its subsidiaries, provided the services are real and justifiable:
- Services must be effectively rendered (management, leadership, advisory, administrative, legal services, etc.);
- All services must be supported by evidence (contracts, intervention notes, detailed invoices);
- Fees must be set at a fair value, in accordance with the arm’s length principle.
If these conditions are not met–fictitious services, lack of evidence, or overcharging–the tax authorities may:
- Disallow the deductibility of the expenses;
- In some cases, recharacterize the transaction as a hidden distribution.
We assist you in the setup, drafting, and documentation of these intra-group agreements to ensure full compliance and tax efficiency.
