Only a few French people know this trick while several million are entitled to it.
This is a tip that the bank does not give to its customers and which the tax authorities do not advertise either. It must be said that only tax insiders know about it, even though several million French people are concerned and can easily benefit from this system. But this one is well hidden.
This concerns in particular holders of a Housing Savings Plan (PEL), opened since January 1, 2018. According to the latest data from the Banque de France, just over 5 million French people – adults and minors – have opened this savings account with their bank for the last six years. This allows you to put money aside and benefit from an advantageous borrowing rate compared to the market when you wish to take out a loan for a real estate purchase (3.45% in 2024 compared to 3.67% on average for a 25-year loan).
Like any savings product, the PEL generates interest at the end of the year. However, nothing to fill your pockets with. The yield varies depending on the date the account was opened: it is between 1% and 2.25% for those opened since 2018. Interest is calculated according to a slightly complex formula but respecting a simple principle: it is better not to not withdraw money to maximize them.
However, each year, the bank automatically deducts an amount on December 31 and pays it to the tax authorities. This is an advance deduction made for income tax. 12.8% of the interest generated over the year goes into the state coffers. If it is not possible to escape this regulation, it is possible to postpone it in time. And it’s better to do it.
People who have a reference tax income of less than €25,000 for a single person or €50,000 for a couple can write to the bank to prevent this payment to the Public Treasury. The benefit is simple: it allows you not to withdraw money from the PEL.
The interest received will then only have to be declared the following spring and, if there is tax to be paid in September, this will be taken from the current account. The amount present on the PEL will therefore not decrease and will always generate a little more interest than if it had been cut from taxes since the end of December.
If it is already too late to prevent the December 2024 direct debit, interested households can still contact their bank to refuse this compulsory direct debit in December 2025. The deadline is November 30 of this year. An e-mail to your banker will allow you to complete the necessary document: this is the “deposit waiver”.