Assurance-vie: the annual allowance of €4,600 or €9,200 on your withdrawals, how it works

Gains from a assurance-vie policy held for 8 years or more benefit from an annual allowance: €4,600 for a single person, €9,200 for a married or civilly partnered couple filing jointly. This allowance is a one-time annual allowance and applies to all your policies. It cannot be carried over to the following year. It reduces your income tax base, not your social security contributions.

This page deals with French assurance-vie contracts held by a French tax resident, taken out since January 1, 1990. It does not cover contracts from insurers established abroad, the situation of a non-resident, or the calculation of the progressive income tax scale. Dedicated pages cover these topics.

The two amounts

The amount of €9,200 is for the couple: it is not €9,200 per spouse.

The BOFiP (BOI-RPPM-RCM-20-10-20-50, paragraph 300) also applies the amount of €4,600 to certain spouses or partners subject to separate taxation. If this applies to you, check your situation with your firm or the tax authorities.

Four rules to know

1. It targets contracts of 8 years or more. The tax allowance applies to gains withdrawn from a contract that is at least 8 years old.
2. It is unique, regardless of the number of contracts. The BOFiP (Official Bulletin of Public Finances) states that the allowance "is granted only once per year." It applies to all contracts held by the same taxpayer. Two contracts, or five, do not entitle the taxpayer to two, or five, allowances.
3. It does not postpone. Any unused portion of your allowance in a given year is lost. It does not carry over to the following year's allowance.
4. It does not affect social security contributions. Social security contributions are calculated on the total amount of earnings. Their rates are detailed on a dedicated page.

In what order is the abatement applied?

If your redemptions relate to premiums from different dates, the tax allowance is not applied randomly. The BOFiP (French Official Tax Bulletin) sets a specific order.

The abatement first absorbs rank 1, then rank 2, then rank 3, then rank 4. In other words, the possible balance reduces the fraction taxed at 7.5 %, before that taxed at 12.8 %.

If you opted for the flat-rate withholding tax of 7.5% on the proceeds of previous premiums, these proceeds are considered at their gross amount. The unused portion of the allowance then entitles you to a tax credit of 7.5%, up to the limit of the proceeds subject to this withholding tax. This credit is applied to the tax due for the year. Any excess is refunded. These proceeds should be declared in box 2DH.

How does this work in practice?

For premiums paid since September 27, 2017, the insurer deducts an income tax prepayment when the gains are paid out: 12.8% for a contract of less than 8 years, and 7.5% for a contract of at least 8 years. For premiums paid up to September 26, 2017, the applicable tax regime is the progressive tax scale, or a flat-rate withholding tax by option.

This advance payment is credited against the income tax due for the year. If it exceeds the tax due, it is refunded.

You declare the gains from a contract of 8 years or more after deduction of the allowance (service-public.gouv.fr, sheet F35006).

You can ask your insurer to waive this advance payment if your reference tax income for the year before last is less than €25,000 (single person) or €50,000 (couple filing jointly). The deadline for submitting this request should be checked with your insurer.

The institution will give you the IFU form (single tax form). If a pre-filled amount is incorrect, correct or complete it.

On the 2026 tax return for 2025 income, three boxes relate to these products: box 2VV for products taxed at 7.5% of % (bonuses not exceeding €150,000), box 2WW for products taxed at 12.8% of % (bonuses exceeding this amount), and box 2UU for the total to be distributed. The boxes on the following tax return are checked on the form for the current year.

The threshold of €150,000 and the rate of 7.5 %

The 7.5% tax rate (%) assumes that your premiums paid but not yet refunded as a lump sum as of December 31st of the previous year remain below €150,000. This threshold is assessed across all your contracts. The BOFiP (BOI-RPPM-RCM-20-15, paragraph 170) specifies that it is assessed per beneficiary: your spouse's premiums are not added to yours. Specific rules apply to contracts held jointly; these should be verified in the BOFiP.

Above the threshold, the rate of 7.5% of the products is applied only to a fraction, calculated pro rata. The remainder is taxed at 12.8% of the products.

The allowance is either €4,600 or €9,200, as mentioned above. It is first applied to the portion at 7.5 %.

Numerical example (fictitious profile)

Situation. Marc and Nadia are married and file their taxes jointly. They are tax residents of France. In 2026, they made three partial withdrawals from two French contracts that were over 8 years old, all of whose premiums were paid after September 27, 2017.

• Contract A (taken out by Marc alone): €80,000 in premiums paid, surrender value of €100,000 in March. Surrender of €25,000 in March. Then, in September, a surrender of €15,000 for a surrender value of €75,000.
• Contract B (taken out by Nadia alone): €40,000 in premiums paid, surrender value of €50,000 in June. Surrender of €20,000.

Example assumptions: Marc and Nadia have no other assurance-vie policies or withdrawals that year, and do not opt for the progressive tax scale. As of December 31, 2025, Marc's outstanding premiums amount to €80,000 and Nadia's to €40,000: for each of them, the €150,000 threshold is not exceeded (nor would it be with their combined total of €120,000). It is assumed that the value of policy A remains stable between March and September. The total income tax for their household for the year is not specified in the example.

Issue. Three buybacks, two contracts: how much tax relief, and what is the resulting income tax?

Strategy. Calculate the share of gains from each redemption, add up all the products of the year, contracts A and B combined, then apply the single allowance of €9,200 before the rate of 7.5 %.

Result.

The profit margin for each redemption is calculated using the BOFiP formula: redemption amount minus premiums not yet repaid, multiplied by the ratio between the redemption amount and the contract's surrender value. For the September redemption, the premiums to be considered are those remaining after the first redemption: €60,000.

This excess of €690 is deducted from the income tax due for the year. It is refunded only if it exceeds the tax due: its fate depends on the total tax liability of the household.

The €9,200 allowance here represents €690 of income tax (7.5 times % × €9,200). For a single person with the same €12,000 in income, the €4,600 allowance would leave €7,400 taxable, or €555 at 7.5 times %.

If Marc and Nadia had only withdrawn €6,000 in winnings that year, €3,200 of tax relief would have remained unused. It would have been lost.

These profiles are fictitious. Social security contributions, which are not eligible for the allowance, are not included in this calculation. The 7.5% % rate assumes that the conditions for the reduced rate are met. The figures illustrate the mechanism. They do not reflect your specific situation.

What changes depending on your situation

• The seniority of each contract : the tax reduction applies to contracts of 8 years or more.
• The date of your bonuses : before or after September 27, 2017, the order of allocation and the tax regime are not the same.
• Your family situation : single person, or married or civil union couple subject to joint taxation.
• The total of your premiums across all your contracts : it conditions the rate of 7.5 %.
• The number of buybacks in the year and the time you make them: the allowance is annual and cannot be carried over.
• Your potential option for the progressive scale : it is global for the capital income of the year (box 2OP).

The rule depends on your situation. No results are guaranteed.