Xavier DELSOL

Xavier DELSOL is one of France’s leading authorities in non-profit law and taxation. For over thirty years, he has advised and represented — both in advisory and litigation matters — associations, foundations, endowment funds, mutual societies, trade unions and professional bodies, pension funds, provident institutions and religious congregations, in Lyon and throughout France.

His practice covers three main areas :

• Taxation of associations and non-profit organisations : tax rulings, profit-making activity, patronage, sponsorship
• Reorganisation and restructuring : mergers, conversions, dissolution of associations and non-profit organisations
• Specialised law : law of religious organisations, sports law, tourism law, cultural law.

Xavier DELSOL is the author or co-author of several landmark publications in the sector :

• Mémento Associations (Ed. Francis Lefebvre) — the sector’s reference work, co-authored from the 1st edition in 1989 through to the 11th and final edition in 2025
• Fiscalité des associations (Ed. Dalloz/Juris) — latest edition 2024
• Droit des cultes — Personnes, activités, biens et structures (Ed. Dalloz)
• Les Fondations reconnues d’utilité publique et d’entreprise (Ed. Juris Service)

He is also the author of numerous other reference works on non-profit law and taxation, and has served as editor of the Droit et Économie Sociale et Solidaire series at Bruylant/Larcier Editions since 2011.

Founder of the journal Juris Associations (of which he was editor-in-chief for 20 years) and the journal Tourisme & Droit, he founded Editions Juris Service, now integrated into the Dalloz – Francis Lefebvre Editions Group.

Xavier DELSOL is co-founder of the Master’s programme in Association Management and Engineering and has lectured at IAE Paris (Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), the University of Saint-Denis de La Réunion and the Faculty of Law of Aix-Marseille III. He also leads numerous training sessions on non-profit taxation for legal practitioners and non-profit executives.

He is a member of the Expert Committee of the « Fiducie Philanthropique » Think Tank at Institut Pasteur since its inception.

Since 2026, he has served as Vice-President of UCLy (Université Catholique de Lyon) and has been a board member of the Fondation d’entreprise GL Events/Polygone since 2020.

Recognised by Best Lawyers since 2022 in the categories Non-Profit / Charities Law, Tax Law and Corporate Law (Les Échos ranking), Xavier DELSOL was also named Lawyer of the Year 2022 in Non-Profit Organisations and CSR by Le Monde du Droit (Palmarès du Droit 2022).

He holds a DEA in Law and Political Science, a DEA in History, and a specialisation in Tax Law.