In summary…
Optimizing your tax situation isn't about paying less tax at all costs; it's about structurally reducing your tax burden without compromising the quality of your assets. Not all strategies are created equal. The PER (Retirement Savings Plan) works by deducting contributions from taxable income and building retirement capital. The Girardin industrial scheme operates through a one-time tax reduction, without any corresponding increase in your assets, but with a real risk.
FCPIs and FIPs combine tax reduction and investment in SMEs, with a long-term lock-in period. The simulator below calculates your marginal tax rate, your estimated tax liability, and the potential savings based on the chosen strategy—allowing you to make an informed decision, not an opportunistic one.
- In 90 seconds, obtain your marginal tax bracket and your estimated gross tax
- The economy quantified by leverage Visualize the real impact of PER, Girardin, FCPI/FIP funds.
- Beyond the tax benefits Understand which lever builds wealth and which is merely a reduction
Calculate your tax optimization
Enter your net annual taxable income, the number of tax units you have, and the amount you plan to allocate to tax optimization solutions. The simulator will calculate your marginal tax bracket, your estimated gross tax liability, and the potential savings based on the chosen strategy. Your data is neither stored nor transmitted.
Understanding the marginal tax bracket is the key to any optimization.
Your marginal tax rate, or MTR, is the tax rate that applies to the highest income bracket. In 2026, the progressive income tax scale has five brackets: 0, 11, 30, 41, and 45. Your MTR is not the rate at which all your income is taxed—it's the rate that applies to every additional euro you earn and every euro you manage to deduct.
This is precisely what makes the marginal tax rate (MTR) central to any tax optimization strategy. A taxpayer in the 30th tax bracket (%) who deducts €5,000 from their taxable income saves €1,500 in taxes. The same effort of deducting €5,000 for a taxpayer in the 41st tax bracket (%) saves €2,050. The effectiveness of a deduction strategy is directly proportional to your MTR.
What most taxpayers don't realize is that tax optimization only becomes truly relevant starting in the 30% tax bracket (%), and that below this bracket, certain strategies cost more in fees and hassles than they yield in savings. The simulator displays your marginal tax rate (TMI) precisely for this reason: it's the starting point for any rational decision.
The 3 families of optimization levers, and what truly distinguishes them
Not all optimization tools work in the same way. The fundamental distinction is that between deduction And reduction, and between asset lever And pure tax avoidance lever.
The PER: a lever through deduction that builds wealth
The Retirement Savings Plan works by deducting from taxable income. You contribute, the amount is deducted from your taxable base, and the savings are equal to the contribution multiplied by your marginal tax rate. Its unique feature: the money contributed is not lost; it builds up retirement capital that you can access later. It's the only tool that combines immediate tax savings with wealth accumulation. The downside: the capital is locked until retirement, except in cases of early withdrawal, and it will be taxed upon withdrawal.
The Girardin industrial scheme: a tax reduction without any corresponding asset allocation
The Girardin industrial scheme operates through tax reduction—it directly lowers the tax owed, not taxable income. Its tax yield can exceed 100%: a larger sum is invested to obtain a greater reduction. However, it must be clearly stated: the Girardin scheme is a non-refundable investment, with no capital recovery, and carries a real risk of tax reassessment if the structure is poorly organized. It is a powerful tool, but one that offers no wealth-building benefits.
FCPIs and FIPs: Reduction and Investment in SMEs
Innovation-focused mutual funds and local investment funds offer a tax reduction in exchange for investing in unlisted SMEs. You retain capital, but it is invested in risky and illiquid assets, locked in for several years. The tax reduction partially offsets the risk—it does not eliminate it.
Case study: Nicolas, 44 years old, sales director in Lyon
Nicolas is single, with a net taxable annual income of €110,000 and one tax unit. His situation, as revealed by the simulator:
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Net taxable income | 110 000 € |
| Tax shares | 1 |
| Marginal Tax Bracket | 41 % |
| Estimated Gross Tax | ≈ €29,000 |
Nicolas plans to allocate €10,000 to optimization. The simulator compares the effect according to the leverage:
| Lever | Mechanism | Tax savings | Capital retained |
|---|---|---|---|
| PER | Deduction (€10,000 × TMI 41 %) | 4 100 € | Yes — €10,000 retirement capital |
| Girardin industrial | One-off discount | €11,000 to €12,000 (estimate) | No — lost funds |
| FCPI/FIP | Discount on payment | approximately €1,800 (18 % of €10,000) | Yes — but blocked and risky |
A quick glance might suggest, "The Girardin scheme wins." A more nuanced understanding of the financial situation tells a different story. For Nicolas, who has a shortfall in retirement savings, the PER (Plan d'Épargne Retraite, or Retirement Savings Plan) transforms a real effort of €5,900 (€10,000 contributed minus €4,100 saved) into €10,000 of retirement capital. The Girardin scheme generates greater savings but leaves nothing behind. The right choice depends on the objective, not just the savings figure.
This is precisely what the simulator allows us to see: not "which lever saves the most", but "which lever serves my situation".
Why optimizing without a strategy is a costly mistake
Every year-end, thousands of taxpayers hastily sign up for a tax-saving scheme, chosen solely for its advertised tax benefits. This is the classic mistake: confusing tax savings with value creation.
A poorly chosen tax avoidance strategy can cost more than the tax it avoids. real estate investment subscribed for its tax reduction but in an area without rental demand, entry fees that absorb the tax advantage, capital locked for ten years in an underperforming fund: all cases where optimization destroys net-net return instead of creating it.
The Balmont approach reverses this logic. It never starts with the tax system, but rather with the wealth management objective. The question is not "how to pay less tax this year," but "how to sustainably reduce my tax burden while building a coherent wealth base." Tax leverage is merely a tool to serve this framework—never an end in itself.
Our enhanced wealth management intelligence models the impact of each lever on your overall situation: taxation, liquidity, real return, and inheritance. The resulting strategy is designed by Alexis Sagnier.
Designed by Alexis Sagnier
The simulator incorporates the 2026 macroeconomic parameters (Livret A rate, INSEE inflation, PFU taxation) and the allocation models used by the firm.
THE answers from your Balmont Conseil experts
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Alexis Sagnier
With over 17 years of expertise in financial engineering, Alexis Sagnier assists executives and expatriates in securing their cross-border challenges.
