The Senate Social Affairs Committee introduced a measure in the purchasing power bill that allows for the early release of employee savings, noted the echoes. A measure designed to protect the purchasing power of the French and promote consumption. The final text will be put to a vote on Wednesday in Parliament.
What is employee savings?
Employee savings consists of paying your employees a bonus linked to the company’s performance (profit-sharing bonus) or representing a portion of its profits (profit-sharing bonus). Payment of the latter is mandatory in companies with more than 50 workers, when the former depends on the goodwill of the company.
When the employee receives their bonus(es), they have two options. Get that amount of money right away. It is then integrated into your income and therefore taxable, or locked up for five years in a business savings plan (ESP). At the end of this period, the employee will be able to get the money back from him without having to pay additional income tax.
It is now possible to withdraw your money before this five-year period as long as you meet one of the ten early release conditions provided for by law. Marriage or Pacs, birth or adoption of a third child, separation, death of the spouse, construction of the habitual residence, termination of the employment contract…
To protect the purchasing power of the French while inflation continues to rise, the Senate wanted to allow an exceptional early release of employee savings. Specifically, between now and the end of the year, any employee who so wishes may release the shares and/or profit-sharing premiums deposited in their PEE within the limit of 10,000 euros, again without this amount being subject to income tax. rent.
However, one rule must be respected: the money must not be placed in a life insurance booklet or contract. It must be engaged in “the acquisition of goods or the rendering of services.” The employee must also have available to the tax authorities “the supporting documents that prove the use of the released sums.”
In addition, when “this savings is invested in the company’s shares, it cannot be released without a specific agreement from the employer,” Mathieu Chauvin, president of Eres Group, specifies this Tuesday on our antenna. Savings cannot be released for retirement either.
An effective device?
This exceptional early retirement scheme is not the first. Already in 2003/04, then in 2008 and in 2013, the governments of the time offered employees the possibility of accessing their company’s savings plan.
In fact, eight years ago, François Hollande allowed employees to recover up to 20,000 euros between July and December to boost consumption. But this incitement had only partially borne fruit. According to the French employers’ association (AFG), quoted by the echoesless than half a million beneficiaries had taken advantage of this opportunity for a total of 2.2 billion euros released in advance, while the government had 4 billion euros.
Source: BFM TV