In summary…
At the very bottom of your tax notice is a box entitled "« retirement savings ceiling »It indicates, in euros, what you can still contribute to a PER by deducting it from your taxable income.
This ceiling accumulates over four years : that of the current year, plus any unused balances from the three previous years. It pooling resources between spouses married or in a civil partnership. And he loses — the oldest remnant disappears every year, without warning.
The point is not to pay the maximum. The point is to know where to stop Beyond a certain point, the euro paid in no longer earns much, and it is locked in until retirement.
It's the line item everyone sees once a year, but almost no one looks at it. It's relegated to the end of the statement, below the control data, with an administrative title that reveals nothing. Yet it tells you exactly how much you can deduct from your taxable income if you choose to do so.
In the cases we take over, it's not uncommon to find several tens of thousands of euros of available credit among taxpayers taxed at 41 %, who had never opened the box.
1. What the box says, exactly
Four lines, three of which will disappear
The box displays your current annual limit, followed by the unused limits from the three previous years, and then a total. It's this total that counts — and it's usually much higher than people imagine, because an unused limit isn't lost immediately: it's carried over for three years.
Specifically. If you haven't paid anything in the last four years, you now have access to four cumulative ceilings. But the oldest one expires on December 31st of this year. And the administration allocates your payments first to the current year's limit, then to the oldest remaining balance—which means that a partial payment first preserves what was about to expire. This is the only instance where the allocation order works in your favor without you having to do anything.
For the technician. Article 163 quatervicies of the French General Tax Code (CGI). Individual ceiling equal to 10 % of the previous year's professional income, capped at eight times the annual social security ceiling, with a floor equal to 10 % of the annual social security ceiling (PASS) for low or zero income. Carryover of unused ceilings from the three previous years; pooling between spouses or civil partners is possible by option when filing the tax return.
For self-employed workers, the so-called "Madelin" scheme under Article 154 bis of the French General Tax Code (CGI) uses a different tax base—10 % of taxable profit up to a limit of eight times the annual social security ceiling (PASS), plus 15 % on the portion between one and eight times the PASS. The two allowances are not calculated in the same way and are not automatically combined: this is the most frequent source of error in the files of professionals in the liberal professions.
2. The real issue: where to stop
The useful advice is not "pay the maximum amount".«
A contribution to a PER (Retirement Savings Plan) generates tax savings equal to the amount contributed multiplied by your marginal rate. Therefore, there is no point in contributing beyond the point where you leave your highest tax bracket: the next euro no longer saves you 41 %, but 30 %. And that euro is locked in until retirement, except in cases of early withdrawal.
This is precisely where advice differs from investment. The council's role is not to make you pay the maximum amount. It is to tell you where the tax yield per euro paid collapses. — and to leave you with the money available beyond that.
We would have earned more by having her pay €63,000. That's precisely what we didn't do, and that's why she has referred two colleagues to us since.
3. The three most costly mistakes
Believing that there is still time in December
A payment must be cashed in before December 31st to be deductible for the year. Opening a PER, transferring an old contract, or making a payment by bank transfer from a foreign account takes working days, sometimes weeks. A case opened on December 20th is a lost case. That is why we are opening this topic in September and not in November.
Forget about pooling resources between spouses
A married or civilly partnered couple can combine the two income limits and allocate the payment to only one of them. Even when one partner has a low income, their minimum income limit remains available year after year, unused by either party. Over four years, this represents a significant amount.
Ignore what happens at the exit
The PER (Retirement Savings Plan) contribution deducted upon entry is taxed upon withdrawal, according to rules that differ between the lump sum and the annuity, and depending on whether the contributions were deducted or not. A taxpayer who will have 41 % at the time of withdrawal has not made the same transaction as one who will have 11 %. The deduction is not a gift, it's a discrepancy — and its value depends entirely on the difference between your current income bracket and your future one.
Three questions. Take out your tax assessment notice, it has everything.
What is the total amount shown in your "retirement savings limit" box — and do you know what portion expires on December 31st? Do you know your actual marginal tax rate, the rate of the highest tax bracket reached, and not the average rate shown on the statement? And which tax bracket do you expect to be taxed at when you withdraw this money?
Our position
The retirement savings cap is one of the few tax advantages that requires no complex setup or specific time commitment—it simply needs to be calculated at the right level, at the right time. It's also the one most often misused, because it's presented as a box to fill rather than a strategic choice.
We never advise paying the full limit as a matter of principle. We calculate the point at which the euro paid ceases to be profitable, and we say so — even when it means we collect less.
Do you want to know how much you can still deduct this year, and how far it makes sense to go?
Send us your latest tax assessment notice. The calculation of your tax bracket exit point takes one hour, and we will provide you with a written report. If the answer is that you don't owe anything, we will also inform you.
Are you a chartered accountant or a fellow consultant? This calculation is an excellent entry point into the files of liberal professions with variable incomes — we carry it out in co-contracting.
Make an appointment
Thirty minutes to calculate your tax bracket exit point, with your latest tax assessment in front of you. If the answer is that you don't owe anything, we'll tell you that too.
