PER: Early withdrawal, permitted cases and procedure

The PER (Retirement Savings Plan) is generally locked until retirement. You can only withdraw your savings before then, in a single payment, under specific circumstances. The request must be made by letter, preferably registered mail, addressed to the plan administrator, along with three supporting documents. The tax payable depends on the reason for the withdrawal and the source of the funds.

One rule to remember: for the purchase of a primary residence, rights resulting from mandatory payments remain blocked.

This page deals with the early release of funds from the PER (Retirement Savings Plan) and the former PERP (Retirement Savings Plan for the Individual). It does not cover release upon the death of the account holder, the situation of non-residents, processing times by the administrator, or the legislation itself.

Situations that allow for a breakthrough

Here is the list provided by the public service for individual retirement savings plans (PER) and group company retirement savings plans (PER d'entreprise collectif). This list is exhaustive: outside of these situations, savings remain locked.

The economie.gouv.fr page dedicated to the individual retirement savings plan (PER) does not present exactly the same list. This page follows the one on service-public. Before submitting an application, have the managing organization confirm that your reason is indeed valid.

Main residence: what remains blocked

For the purchase of a primary residence, the French government's public service website specifies that the rights resulting from mandatory contributions remain frozen. These contributions are those from a mandatory company retirement savings plan (PER). The AMF Ombudsman reiterates this in a December 2024 publication, citing Article L. 224-4 of the French Monetary and Financial Code.

These rights have their own payout method: according to the French government's public service website, savings from mandatory contributions to a company retirement savings plan (PER) are paid out only as an annuity. The same website outlines an exception: when the monthly annuity payment does not exceed €110, it can be converted into a lump sum. Check the conditions for this conversion with your plan administrator.

The approach, in three stages

1. Identify the pattern. It determines the documents to be provided and the tax regime for the exit.
2. Write to the organization managing the plan. A letter, preferably registered. In cases of over-indebtedness, it is the over-indebtedness commission that writes it.
3. Join three pieces : proof of identity, a bank statement of the account that will receive the payment, and proof of the situation invoked.

Early release is made in the form of a single payment.

The tax implications of releasing the funds

The treatment depends on two things: the reason, and the origin of the sums (payments deducted from taxable income or not, and gains).

The flat tax rate (PFU) is 12.8% of income tax, plus social security contributions. Its overall rate is 30% for interest received up to December 31, 2025, and 31.4% for interest received from January 1, 2026 onwards, including 18.6% of social security contributions.

A "non-deducted" payment is a payment for which the holder has opted out of deducting it from taxable income.

The public service website uses the term "life event" for the first line of the table. The proofread version does not specify which of the listed reasons fall under this category: have this confirmed by the managing organization.

Numerical example (fictitious profile)

Situation. Marc, 48, has a €100,000 individual retirement savings plan (PER): €80,000 in voluntary contributions and €20,000 in gains. He buys his primary residence in 2026 and requests the full amount be released. For the sake of this example, we assume that income tax is applied to the portion of contributions at a rate of 30% (hypothetical profile).

Issue. The net amount received depends on how the payments were treated upon entry: deducted from taxable income or not.

Strategy. Compare two versions of the same plan, one with deducted payments, the other with non-deducted payments, only on the exit.

Result.

The €24,000 difference doesn't indicate which option is more advantageous. It only relates to the payout. The deducted payments themselves resulted in a deduction from taxable income at the time of payment, which isn't included in this calculation. The 30% tax rate (%) is an assumption: in your case, the rate applied to the portion of payments may be different.

This profile is fictitious. The 30 % rate and amounts are hypothetical. The figures illustrate the mechanism and do not predict your situation.

The special case of the Perp

The Perp is no longer marketed since October 1, 2020. If you hold one, it follows its own rules.

For the PERP (Retirement Savings Plan), the public service website lists the following as cases of early withdrawal, introduced by "notably": disability, the death of a spouse or civil partner, the end of unemployment benefits, excessive debt, cessation of self-employment following judicial liquidation, and savings of less than €2,000. For this last case, the page specifies contract and income conditions, which can be verified in your contract.

Since October 1, 2020, it is no longer possible to open a PERP (Retirement Savings Plan). According to economie.gouv.fr, the organization managing the PERP is obligated to open a PER (Retirement Savings Plan) for the account holder who requests it and to transfer the accumulated savings. The transfer request is made to the managing organization. The transfer incurs fees that vary from one organization to another.

What changes depending on your situation

• The reason for the release, which sets the fees and the tax.
• The origin of the sums : voluntary contributions, mandatory contributions, earnings.
• Processing of incoming payments deducted or not deducted.
• The type of plan : individual PER, company PER, or former Perp.
• Your personal situation, which can make a reason acceptable or not.

The rule depends on your situation and must be examined on a case-by-case basis. No results are guaranteed.