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PER Madelin simulator (self-employed): retirement and profit deduction
The “Madelin” PER, now part of the individual PER, gives self-employed workers a much higher deduction ceiling than employees: 10% of the PASS (annual social security ceiling), plus 15% of the portion of profit between 1 and 8 PASS. A self-employed person with high profits can therefore deduct several tens of thousands of euros a year.
10% of the PASS plus 15% of profit between 1 and 8 PASS
From taxable profit (BIC/BNC) or from managers' pay
No obligation to pay in every year since the PER reform
The simulator
Simulate your Madelin PER
The simulator estimates your retirement capital and your tax saving according to your marginal tax rate. Your data is neither stored nor transmitted.
Madelin PER (TNS) simulator
Self-employed worker: plan your retirement and the deduction of your contributions from your taxable profit.
Indicative calculation, based on 2026 rules and the assumptions entered above.
Why
Why the self-employed have a lever employees do not
The self-employed worker faces a unique tax reality: their profit is fully taxable, without the safety net of the 10% tax allowance available to salaried employees, and their tax years are irregular—an exceptional year can suddenly propel them into the 45% tax bracket. The Madelin retirement savings plan (PER Madelin) was designed to absorb precisely these peaks: it allows a substantial portion of taxable profit to be offset in the year when it is most expensive.
The self-employed ceiling is not a technical detail: it changes the very nature of the tool. Where an employee is capped at 10% of income, a self-employed person with high profits can deduct tens of thousands of euros, because the calculation adds 15% of the portion of profit between 1 and 8 PASS. The higher the profit, the more the deduction capacity soars — exactly the opposite of the logic for employees.
But this power turns against the poorly advised self-employed. The old Madelin required contributions every year, bad years included; the PER reform removed that constraint. The self-employed can now pay in heavily in good years and ease off in others. Without active management, they waste ceiling in lean years and miss out in the good ones.
What the calculation shows
The 3 levers that your accountant cannot control alone
A record-profit year is also the year your top tax bracket reaches 41% or 45%. It is the year in which every euro deducted saves you the most. The Madelin ceiling, calculated on that high profit, is itself at its highest: the window is doubly favourable. Paying in heavily that year, rather than spreading evenly, can transform the tax bill. The result still has to be anticipated before the year-end — that is joint work for the adviser and the accountant, not one without the other.
The PER gives the self-employed two deduction compartments: the Madelin “category” ceiling, calculated on profit, and the standard ceiling for voluntary contributions, calculated on income. The two are not set off in the same way and do not carry forward in the same way. Optimising means knowing which to fill first depending on the make-up of your income — managers' pay, dividends, BNC. An allocation error can cost part of the expected deduction.
For a self-employed manager, the PER cannot be considered in isolation: it is part of the overall pay / dividends / retirement savings trade-off. Paying into the PER reduces taxable profit and therefore, depending on status, the base for social security contributions. But this logic has to fit with your distribution strategy and the difference in tax bracket at exit. It is a multi-layered calculation that the headline deduction, taken alone, never reflects.
Case study
Case study: Maître Vasseur, 52 years old, self-employed dental surgeon in Nantes
Dr Vasseur, a self-employed professional taxed under BNC, makes a profit of around €180,000 and has a marginal tax rate of 45%. He decides to pay €25,000 into his Madelin PER in a high-profit year. Here is the effect of the contribution:
| Indicator | No contribution | With Madelin contribution | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax-deductible PER contribution | €0 | ≈ €25,000 | — |
| Tax saving (marginal tax rate 45%) | €0 | ≈ €11,250 | +€11,250 |
| Actual cost of the contribution | — | ≈ €13,750 | -45% |
| Retirement savings built up | €0 | ≈ €25,000 | +€25,000 |
The €25,000 contribution actually costs Dr Vasseur only €13,750: the State funds the remaining €11,250 through the deduction, in the very year his bracket is at its highest. The Madelin portion of his ceiling — based on a profit of €180,000 — would in fact have allowed him to deduct even more. Over a career, by concentrating these contributions on good years, the cumulative saving runs into tens of thousands of euros.
The lesson is specific to the self-employed: it is not the amount paid in that creates the tax performance, it is when you pay it in. Paying the same each year, as the old Madelin required, would have diluted the advantage. Year-by-year management, based on actual profit, makes all the difference.
In practice
The TNS deduction is a weapon — provided you aim
This simulator quantifies the retirement capital and the tax saving on the deductible portion. But optimising a self-employed person's position is not just about an amount: it depends on the timing of contributions, the choice between deduction compartments, the fit with your pay and dividends, and how you manage the exit. These decisions, taken at the right time, are worth far more than the choice of investment vehicle.
Balmont Conseil is a wealth management advisory firm based in Lyon, a member of ANACOFI-CIF and an insurance broker, working with several partner banks and insurance companies. Open architecture allows us to select the contract from among our partners and to work hand in hand with your chartered accountant, in your interest — not that of a network. Let's book an appointment to structure your retirement strategy as a self-employed person.
Frequently asked questions
What clients ask us.
What is the maximum deduction for a self-employed person on the PER Madelin plan?
The self-employed (TNS) ceiling is much higher than an employee's: 10% of the annual social security ceiling (PASS), plus 15% of the portion of your profit between 1 and 8 PASS. In practice, the higher your profit, the greater your deduction capacity — a high-earning self-employed person can deduct several tens of thousands of euros a year.
Do I have to pay in every year, as with the old Madelin?
No, and that is the major change brought by the PER reform. The old Madelin contract required regular contributions or you lost your accrued seniority. The PER removed that constraint: you adjust freely, pay in heavily in good years and ease off in others. This flexibility is precisely what makes managing contributions so worthwhile for a self-employed person with irregular income.
Does the contribution also reduce my social security contributions?
The Madelin PER deduction applies to taxable profit, which reduces your income tax. Depending on your status and the nature of your income, the effect on the base for social security contributions varies. This needs to be analysed precisely with your adviser and your accountant, as it is part of the overall pay / dividends / retirement savings trade-off specific to self-employed business owners.
How does exit at retirement work?
As with the individual PER, you exit as a lump sum, an annuity or a mix of both. The portion corresponding to your deducted contributions is added back into your income tax; gains are taxed at the 30% flat tax. Early release to buy your main residence remains possible. The benefit rests on the difference between your tax bracket today and in retirement.
What is the difference between Balmont Conseil and a bank adviser?
Balmont Conseil is a wealth management advisory firm, a member of ANACOFI-CIF, with no capital ties to any bank or insurer. We select the contract from among our partners and coordinate your strategy with your chartered accountant, in your interest. A bank adviser or insurance agent distributes their network's product; we build a self-employed person's tax optimisation as a whole, contribution schedule included.
