The 2025 reform fixed how the reference salary is determined, which changes the arithmetic for both routes. What employers should budget for skilled non-EU hires.
- Talent Passport and EU Blue Card
- Collective bargaining agreements
- What is the difference between an SAS and a SARL?
For companies entering the French market, the entity choice — SAS or SARL — affects governance flexibility rather than tax treatment, since both forms are taxed identically. The operational complexity lies less in incorporation and more in payroll administration, where contribution rates, ceilings and reporting obligations require continuous monitoring.
What a foreign hire has to satisfy in France. Every figure below is published on the France country page.
| France | |
|---|---|
| EU Blue Card threshold | €59,373/year (2026) — 1.5× the reference salary of €39,582 |
| Main work-permit route | Talent Passport (Passeport Talent) is the main route for skilled non-EU hires alongside the EU Blue Card |
| Corporate tax rate | 25% standard · 15% reduced rate on first €42,500 of profit for qualifying SMEs |
| Minimum share capital | SAS / SARL: €1 (statutory minimum; practical capital typically higher) |
| VAT standard rate | 20% |
What makes it complex in France
- Talent Passport and EU Blue Card — processing, with salary thresholds reset annually.
- Collective bargaining agreements — that can override statutory minimums by sector.
What is the difference between an SAS and a SARL?
Both require a statutory minimum share capital of €1 and are taxed identically. SAS offers greater governance flexibility and is generally preferred by international groups and investors; SARL has a more rigid statutory structure, often suited to smaller or family-owned operations.
Talent Passport and EU Blue Card is one of the points HTLC Network handles for clients operating in France, within a single engagement that covers every other country they operate in — executed locally, governed centrally.
In France the scope is: Talent Passport and EU Blue Card applications, salary threshold compliance, and coordination for internationally mobile employees.
See Workforce Mobility in France for the full scope, or the France country page for the statutory framework across every service.
Figures as published on the HTLC Network country pages, reviewed September 2026 and collected from public sources. They are not a substitute for advice on a specific case and should be verified before being relied on.