In summary…
A self-employed worker has access to two separate deduction envelopes : that of article 154 bis of the CGI, professional, and the retirement savings ceiling of article 163 quatervicies, personal. Neither the same basis, nor the same reference year, nor the same carryovers.
They communicate in only one direction: what you deduce under Article 154 bis reduces your retirement savings limit for the following year. Never the other way around. And the professional allowance cannot be carried over: what is not used by December 31st is lost.
Hence the most frequent mistake on TNS files: adding two envelopes that do not add up, or letting the more generous of the two lie dormant.
The conversation always begins with the same sentence: "I've had a Madelin plan for fifteen years, and I opened a PER three years ago." Then comes the real question: can the two be combined? Yes and no. You can hold both, but the deductions don't stack: there are two separate tax brackets, and one reduces the other with a one-year lag.
1. Two plates, two reference years
One is looking at the current exercise, the other at the previous year.
Article 154 bis of the French General Tax Code (CGI) is a professional expense: it deducts pension contributions from taxable profit for the financial year. It was valid for a Madelin plan yesterday, it is valid for an individual PER plan today.
Article 163 quatervicies is something else entirely: a deduction from total income, based on the previous year's business income, Open to all. This is the "retirement savings limit" printed at the bottom of your tax notice.
Specifically. Your professional allowance is calculated based on the year you live: if your profit increases, your deduction capacity increases. the same year. Your retirement savings limit, however, remains unchanged. A good year is therefore handled through article 154 bis.
For the technician. Article 154 bis of the French General Tax Code (CGI): 10 % of taxable profit is capped at eight times the annual social security ceiling, plus 15 % of the portion between one and eight times this ceiling. A minimum of 10 % of the annual ceiling applies, regardless of the profit.
Article 163 quatervicies of the French General Tax Code (CGI): 10 % of the previous year's business income, net of expenses, up to a limit of eight times the annual ceiling; failing that, 10 % of the annual ceiling. No increase is provided for in this text.
2. The 15 % increase only exists on one side
That's where the most money is lost, and most discreetly.
Article 154 bis contains a supplement absent from Article 163 quatervicies: 15 % of the portion of profit between one and eight annual ceilings. At the upper end of this range, it makes more than double the capacity derived from the 10 % alone. And it is not transportable: deducting from overall income when it could be deducted from profit means losing the increase every year.
| Article 154 bis (professional) | Article 163 quatervicies (personnel) | |
|---|---|---|
| Plate | Profit for the current financial year | Business income from the previous year |
| Increase of 15 % | Yes, between 1 and 8 PASSES | No |
| Carry over unused items | None. Lost as of December 31st | Three years |
| Sharing between spouses | No | Yes |
| Mandatory annual payment | Yes to a Madelin plan, no to a PER | No |
3. What is charged against what, with a one-year delay
Article 154 bis reduces the retirement savings ceiling. Never the other way around.
The one-year retirement savings limit is reduced by pension contributions deducted from profit the previous year. Your Madelin contributions from last year have therefore already reduced the ceiling shown today.
Hence two symmetrical errors. The first: contributing to the maximum allowed under the tax return without realizing it's already reduced—you think you have two investment accounts, but you only have one and a half. The second, more costly: contributing the bare minimum to an old Madelin plan and then transferring the rest to a PER (retirement savings plan) deducted from your overall income. The professional account remains empty and disappears upon closure.
In addition, there is a constraint specific to the Madelin plan: the annual contribution is not optional, its amount falls within a range fixed at the time of subscription, and interruption reduces the contract value. The PER (Retirement Savings Plan) has no such constraint—and the self-employed professional whose income collapses remains obligated to contribute at the precise moment when they have nothing left to deduct.
Specifically. The limit printed on your notice is not your total deduction capacity: it is what remains After Your professional contributions from last year are being processed. And no one sends you the equivalent for form 154 bis: it doesn't appear on any pre-printed document, it has to be calculated. That's why it's often overlooked.
For the technician. The ceiling for Article 163 quatervicies is reduced by contributions deducted under Article 154 bis the previous year, mandatory contributions, and employer matching contributions. Any remaining balance is carried forward for three years and pooled between spouses; the ceiling for Article 154 bis does neither.
Contributions deducted under Article 154 bis remain reintegrated into the basis for social security contributions of the self-employed worker: the saving relates to income tax, not to the social security base.
4. The old Madelin: keep it or transfer it
No longer commercially available since 2020, but still very much alive
The PACTE law of May 22, 2019, created the retirement savings plan and closed the old contracts to new subscriptions. Existing Madelin contracts have not disappeared: they remain active, receive contributions, and continue to generate income. No new ones are being opened.
What distinguishes them from the PER (Plan d'Épargne Retraite) is not the entry tax deduction, which is comparable, but the exit strategy. A Madelin plan is paid out as a life annuity; a PER allows for a lump-sum withdrawal of voluntary contributions and for use as a primary residence. A transferred Madelin plan joins this category and acquires these options. The question, therefore, is not "should I transfer it?", but rather the value of the guarantee included in that particular contract.
Specifically. An old Madelin can wear a guaranteed annuity conversion rate at subscription, This is far superior to current practice: an acquired right that the transfer cancels. It can be found in the original terms and conditions, not in the statement.
For the technician. Law No. 2019-486 of May 22, 2019. Retirement savings plan regulations under Articles L. 224-1 et seq. of the Monetary and Financial Code: contribution compartments, early withdrawal including for the principal residence, transferability of existing contracts. Amounts from a contract governed by Article 154 bis are transferred to the voluntary contribution compartment.
Things to check before making a decision: guaranteed rates, transfer fees, and any attached pension guarantees, which are not transferable.
Three questions. If one remains unanswered, money is going somewhere.
Do you know the amount of your 154 bis allowance for the current fiscal year—not the ceiling of your tax assessment, which is calculated on something else? Who decides how your payments are allocated, your accountant or your advisor? Does your Madelin plan include a guaranteed annuity rate that the transfer would eliminate?
Our position
This isn't a product issue, it's a calculation issue.
«"Madelin or PER?" is not the right question. The two contracts are similar at the outset but differ at the outset. What determines the outcome is the investment vehicle to which the funds are allocated—and this choice is made again every year, once the profit is known.
We also regularly say that there's nothing to be done: a self-employed individual whose earnings remain below the first social security ceiling receives no benefit from the increase. The dividing line is drawn in an hour.
Do you hold a Madelin plan, a PER plan, or both?
The first meeting is used to compare your two envelopes side by side, and to decide which one you'll leave untouched. Forty-five minutes — and we also discuss whether the current system is working well.
Are you a chartered accountant, broker or fellow consultant? These cases are difficult to handle alone: they involve navigating between the formal tax return and the personal declaration. We work in partnership, and the client remains yours.
Book 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.
