New pension boost for self-employed workers in France

Changes include additional pension and host of supplementary rights

Man with glasses sitting in the garden on his laptop
Contributions for some self-employed workers are to rise
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From July 1, social security contributions for some self-employed workers have risen to benefit from enhanced rights and, like salaried employees, a supplementary pension in old age.

The change can be traced back to changes in 2018, which saw auto-entrepreneurs in a profession libérale encouraged to move from the Caisse interprofessionnelle de prévoyance et d'assurance vieillesse (CIPAV) pension regime to the general social security scheme.

These included, for example, consultants, IT developers, marketers, tourist guides and translators.

This was designed to simplify procedures and make it easier to become an auto-entrepreneur.

Supplementary rights

However, their social security contributions have not, until now, enabled them to benefit from a supplementary pension – only sickness, maternity, disability, death and basic pension benefits.

More than 600,000 are affected by the change, according to figures from the Fédération Nationale des Auto Entrepreneurs (FNAE).

They will see pension contributions rise from 21.1% to 23.1% from July 1, to 24.6% in 2025, and to 26.1% in 2026.

An example given to explain the changes is as follows:

“Laura, a translator, created her micro-entreprise in October 2019, and has a monthly income of €2,000.

“Before July 2024, she will have paid €422 in monthly pension and social security payments to Urssaf.

“From July 2024, she will have to pay €462 to Urssaf, an increase of €40.

“From 2025 this will rise to €492, a rise of another €30.

“And from 2026 her contribution will be €522, meaning the total increase will be €100, for revenues of €2,000.”

Another 200,000 auto-entrepreneurs still on the CIPAV regime will also see their contributions rise, to 23.2% from 21.2%. This will be fixed until at least 2026.

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