This is one of the most valuable pieces of information in your tax notice, and also one of the least read. In the section “Retirement savings ceiling”the administration summarizes in black and white the amounts that you can still deduct from your taxable income by paying into a Retirement Savings Plan. The ceiling for the current year, 10% of professional income for 2025, up to €37,680 for employees, and up to €88,911 for self-employed workers, is added to unused carryovers from previous years. A section that has nevertheless gone under the radar of a majority of taxpayers. “ This is the blind spot of the PER »says Benoît Berchebru, director of wealth engineering for the Astoria Finance group. “ In more than one in three cases, customers discover that they have several thousand euros of ceiling available, simply because no one has ever explained to them how to read or use it. »he continues.
To embody this little-known tax source, the expert cites the recent case of a self-employed manager, with around €120,000 of taxable profit, and convinced of being “up to date” with his retirement. “ By reviewing its tax notices, we identified nearly €42,000 of unused PER ceilings accumulated over several years »says Benoît Berchebru. In question, confusion between the old Madelin devices and the operation of the PER, who let rights lie dormant year after year. By mobilizing part of this stock via a payment of €30,000, the manager generated €12,000 in immediate tax savings. “ This client was well advised on his investments, but this pure tax lever had gone completely unnoticed. In TNS, the ‘hidden number’ is often even higher »warns the expert.
A major new feature introduced by the 2026 finance law: the ceilings generated from January 1, 2026 can now be carried forward to 5 years instead of 3. But be careful, the measure is not retroactive. A cap generated in 2025 always expires at the end of 2028, while a 2026 cap will run until the end of 2031. A double tax clock which risks trapping many savers. “ The error that I anticipate the most is a timing error linked to a poor reading of the reporting rules »warns Benoît Berchebru. “ This is a classic confusion between stock and flow: the old ceilings remain subject to the old regime at 3 years, while the new ones, from 2026, will benefit from the postponement to 5 years – but only for the rights acquired from 2026, therefore really visible from 2030 and 2031 »he explains. His conclusion is clear: 2026 is a pivotal yearwith a real risk of dead loss of tax rights for those who do not actively manage their ceiling.
Three profiles for whom paying before December 31, 2026 is essential
The imputation rule is implacable and little known. The tax authorities first consume the ceiling for the current year, then the carryovers from the oldest to the most recent. In other words, if you don’t pay enough, these are your oldest rights which disappear definitively. Three profiles have an interest in taking action this year. First, the “ceiling in danger”the one which is still dragging out postponements from 2023 condemned to expire on December 31, 2026 if it does not mobilize them. “ Many savers will believe — wrongly — that they still have several years to use their old ceilings. »insists Benoît Berchebru. “ We risk seeing taxpayers let acquired rights expire in 2023, simply because they have heard about the change to 5 years, without understanding that this extension does not apply retroactively. »adds the expert.
Then, the “slice jumping”in other words any taxpayer who has just switched from 30 to 41% TMIhas an interest in purging his old rights with maximum tax efficiency. On €8,000 paid, the saving reaches €3,280 against €2,400 at 30%. “ The priority is to ‘fill’ the tranche to 41%, without overflowing unnecessarily »recommends Benoît Berchebru, who invites us to think in terms of the amount of income located in the 41% bracket, and not in terms of the overall amount of payment. However, be careful of the threshold effect, because if your payment drops part of the income into the lower bracket, the calculation becomes hybrid. “ Each euro paid should ideally be deducted at 41%, or even 30% – but not less. The right reflex is therefore not ‘pour as much as possible’, but ‘pour just’ »insists the expert.
Finally, there remains the case of that of “near retirement”whose TMI will mechanically fall in two to three years. Tax relief now at 41%, then coming out in capital or annuity at 11%, remains one of the most profitable strategies of the PER, despite the increase in social security contributions raised to 18.6%. Conversely, for those over 70, the rules of the game have changed: payments made since January 1, 2026 are no longer deductible. Check your opinion, calculate your marginal gain, then decide, this is the winning triptych of a successful 2026 declaration.
