Article 83 plan simulator: collective defined-contribution retirement

Simulate your Article 83

The simulator estimates the capital built and the tax saving on the deductible share. Your data is neither stored nor transmitted.

Why Article 83 serves the employee-equivalent manager first

Article 83 targets an objective category of staff — often the executives, or employee-equivalent managers. Once the scheme is set up, the contributions become compulsory: shared between employer and employee, deductible from the latter’s taxable income within a dedicated ceiling, and deductible from profit for the company. It is this compulsory, category-based character that sets it apart from voluntary savings.

For the employee-equivalent manager — president of an SAS, minority manager of a SARL — the benefit is twofold. On one hand, they build a supplementary retirement part-funded by the company, via the employer contribution. On the other, the share they pay in themselves is deductible from their taxable income, within a ceiling specific to this type of scheme. The company thus co-funds their retirement, with a tax advantage at entry for both parties.

But the scheme is demanding: it requires defining an objective category of beneficiaries, setting a contribution level, and observing social and accounting formalities. Badly structured, it can be reclassified and lose its advantages. Setting it up is the work of a social-protection and manager-remuneration advisor, not a simple subscription.

The 3 levers this simulator illuminates

Lever 1 — have the company co-fund your retirement

The Article 83 employer contribution is deductible from the company’s profit and exempt from ordinary social contributions (save the social package). For the employee-equivalent manager, it is a way to transfer value from the company into their personal retirement, at a tax and social cost far below that of a salary top-up. Calibrating the employer contribution, within the bounds of the category-based and compulsory character, is decisive here.

Lever 2 — stack the retirement deduction ceilings

The Article 83 employee share is deducted from taxable income within a dedicated ceiling, which dovetails with the individual-PER ceiling. Well steered, the manager can stack the wrappers — category-based Article 83 and voluntary contributions to a PER — to maximise the overall deduction. The classic mistake is treating each scheme in isolation; optimisation plays out in the dovetailing of the ceilings, which distributors rarely present.

Lever 3 — transfer into the mandatory company PER at the right moment

Since the PACTE law, new schemes take the form of the mandatory company PER (PERO), which carries the Article 83 logic while adding the possibility of a lump-sum exit on certain compartments. Old Article 83 contracts can be transferred into it. Deciding to transfer — and when — can unlock an exit flexibility absent from the original contract. It is a technical arbitrage to frame with an advisor.

Worked example — Olivier, 49, president of a consulting SAS in Paris

Olivier, president of an SAS and therefore employee-equivalent, sets up an Article 83 for the “managers” category. The total annual contribution is €8,000, of which €5,000 borne by the company and €3,000 by himself. He is at a 41% marginal rate. Here is the effect at entry.

Each year, Olivier sees his supplementary retirement fed with €8,000, of which €5,000 funded by the company via an employer contribution deductible from its profit. His own €3,000 share saves him roughly €1,230 in tax at a 41% bracket. The company thus co-funds his retirement at a tax and social cost far below that of an equivalent salary top-up.

The lesson for an employee-equivalent manager: Article 83 lets you have part of the retirement effort borne by the company, with a tax advantage at entry for both parties. The catch is respecting the scheme’s category-based and compulsory character, on pain of reclassification — and considering, in time, a transfer into a mandatory company PER to gain exit flexibility.

A “compulsory” scheme serving the manager and the executives

Article 83 targets an objective category of staff (often executives, or employee-equivalent managers). The contributions, shared between employer and employee, are compulsory once the scheme is set up. They are deductible from the employee’s taxable income within a dedicated ceiling, and deductible from profit for the company.

For an employee-equivalent manager (president of an SAS, minority manager of a SARL), it is a way to build a supplementary retirement part-funded by the company, with a tax advantage at entry.

Towards the mandatory company PER

Since the PACTE law, new schemes take the form of the mandatory company PER (PERO), which carries the Article 83 logic while adding the possibility of a lump-sum exit on certain compartments. Old Article 83 contracts can be transferred into it.

Structuring such a scheme — choice of category, contribution level, dovetailing with the other schemes — is the work of a social-protection and manager-remuneration advisor.

A technical scheme serving the manager and the executives

This simulator estimates the capital built and the tax saving on the deductible share. But structuring an Article 83 — the choice of objective category, the contribution level, the dovetailing with the other retirement and remuneration schemes, the opportunity of a transfer to the PERO — is the work of a specialist advisor. Badly calibrated, the scheme loses its advantages; well built, it has the manager’s retirement co-funded by their company.

Balmont Conseil is an independent wealth-management firm, a member of ANACOFI, with no capital ties to a bank or an insurer. This independence lets us structure the scheme and select the contract across the whole market, aligning it with your overall remuneration, in your interest alone. Run your projection above, then book a call to design your manager’s supplementary-retirement scheme.

Frequently asked questions

What is a “defined-contribution” scheme?

In a defined-contribution scheme such as Article 83, the amount of the contributions is known in advance, but not the level of the final annuity, which depends on the performance of the investments. It is the opposite of Article 39 (the top-hat pension), a defined-benefit scheme, where it is the level of the annuity that is guaranteed and the company that bears the financial risk.

How are the Article 83 contributions deducted?

The employee share is deductible from the employee’s taxable income within a dedicated ceiling, specific to this type of scheme, which dovetails with the individual-PER ceiling. The employer share is deductible from the company’s profit and exempt from ordinary social contributions, save the social package. The compulsory, category-based character of the scheme conditions the benefit of these advantages.

Can a manager benefit from it?

Yes, provided they are employee-equivalent — president or managing director of an SAS, minority manager of a SARL — and fall within an objective category of staff covered by the scheme. This is precisely one of its benefits: letting the manager build a supplementary retirement co-funded by the company, with a tax advantage at entry.

What becomes of Article 83 under the PACTE law?

Since the PACTE law, new schemes take the form of the mandatory company PER (PERO), which carries the Article 83 logic while adding the possibility of a lump-sum exit on certain compartments. Old Article 83 contracts can be transferred to the PERO. The exit from Article 83 itself is mainly a life annuity, with a lump sum possible on the voluntary share.