Company Executives: Have You Considered Maximizing Your Compensation Through Copyright?
With tax filing season in full swing, executives are asking themselves more than ever how to optimize their compensation.

What is the best form of compensation for an executive from a tax and social security perspective?
In what situations are dividends more attractive than executive compensation?
Our team provides guidance and advice to our clients on these topics on a daily basis.

⚠️ Warning:
Calculating personal taxes is not sufficient for these issues. It is important to calculate the overall tax and social security costs—for both the company and the individual—associated with these different types of compensation, as well as the advantages and disadvantages in terms of social security coverage.

The team at FareWell – Tax Lawyers also strives to go a step further and explore alternative proposals.

A Focus on Copyright as an Alternative Form of Compensation.

When an executive:
▸Creates, in a personal capacity, an original work protected by intellectual property rights (software, concept, design, methodology, etc.)
▸Or files for industrial property rights (trademark, patent, industrial designs)
These rights belong to the executive’s personal estate.
The company may then exploit these creations through a license or concession agreement, in exchange for compensation paid to the executive.

Examples of applicable income:
▸ Income derived from a trademark created by the business owner and used by the company
▸ Income derived from work as an independent software developer
▸ Income derived from work involving the creation of a concept or an original design

Benefits:
▸ Can be combined with executive compensation and dividends
▸ Royalties are tax-deductible for the company

Applicable tax rules:
▸Social security contributions for self-employed individuals: approximately 30 to 35%
▸Under the micro-BNC regime, only 66% of income is subject to income tax
▸Under the micro-BIC regime—for example, for a trademark—only 50% of income is subject to income tax

If structured properly, this mechanism can increase the executive’s net income while providing legal certainty regarding the use of the company’s intangible assets.

FareWell specializes in optimizing executives’ income and can provide you with advice.