French Social Security Ceiling (PASS) 2026: Amount, Calculation and Payroll Impact

Every January, the French annual social security ceiling (PASS) is revalued, and every payroll team copies it mechanically into its software. That is the wrong perspective. The PASS is not a simple reference value: it is the pivot that triggers, or not, a dozen contribution and benefit mechanisms. A poorly configured PASS on 1 January produces incorrect payslips for months, and year-end adjustments are rarely painless.

Quick answer. The 2026 PASS is set at 48,060 euros per year, i.e. a monthly ceiling (PMSS) of 4,005 euros. This value governs the calculation of Agirc-Arrco brackets, the general relief on employer contributions, exemption thresholds and retirement savings caps. Best practice is not to memorise the figure, but to map everything it triggers in your payroll.

The social security ceiling is the unit of measure for much of French social law. It exists in annual and monthly values, and on a pro rata basis for part-time work and mid-month entries and departures.

The PMSS is the most frequently used value in payroll: it bounds the contribution brackets month after month. The daily and hourly ceilings are used for fine pro rata calculations (absences, mid-month hires). Always check these two values against the official schedule rather than recomputing them by hand, because the rounding rules are standardised.

The PASS never acts alone. It serves as a bound for several mechanisms that combine on the same payslip.

Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension brackets#

Since the merger of the Arrco and Agirc schemes in 2019, supplementary pensions are computed using two brackets expressed in multiples of the monthly ceiling (PMSS), no longer as Tranche A and Tranche B of the former separate schemes:

• Tranche 1 corresponds to pay capped at 1 PMSS;
• Tranche 2 corresponds to the portion of pay between 1 and 8 PMSS.

Contribution rates differ between these two brackets. A misconfigured PMSS therefore immediately shifts how the base is split between Tranche 1 and Tranche 2, distorting both the employer cost and the employee's pension rights.

The general relief on employer contributions#

The calculation of the general relief on low wages uses ceiling references in its formula. A PASS error therefore propagates directly into the relief amount, affecting the employer-side cost. For the detailed 2026 parameters, see our dedicated analysis of the 2026 general relief on employer contributions.

Social and exemption thresholds#

Many exemption ceilings are expressed as a fraction of the PASS: meal vouchers, certain severance payments, provident contributions, or profit-sharing caps. When the PASS moves, these thresholds move with it. Recomputing them from an outdated ceiling is one of the most frequent errors we correct on files taken over mid-year.

The PASS does not concern employees alone. It also bounds the deduction caps for retirement savings, a lever many directors under-use or mis-calibrate.

For contributions made to a retirement savings plan (PER) in 2026, the deduction cap equals 10 percent of the previous year's professional income (net of professional expenses), capped at 8 PASS. A key point often misunderstood: this cap is calculated on the previous year's PASS, i.e. the 2025 PASS of 47,100 euros. The maximum deduction cap for 2026 contributions thus comes to 37,680 euros (10 percent of 8 times 47,100 euros).

Conversely, a deduction floor protects modest or irregular incomes. This floor equals 10 percent of the previous year's PASS, i.e. 4,710 euros for 2026 contributions (10 percent of 47,100 euros). In other words, even with low professional income, a director can deduct up to 4,710 euros of PER contributions.

The most common confusion is to apply the current year's PASS (48,060 euros in 2026) to compute these two bounds. That is an error: the rule references the previous year's ceiling. For a self-employed worker, specific rules apply in addition; we detail them in our guide to the Madelin contract and self-employed caps.

In payroll files we take over or audit, friction linked to the PASS almost never comes from the figure itself, which is public and easy to find. It comes from three blind spots.

The first is the timing gap on multi-year caps. The PER, profit-sharing and certain optional contributions reference the N-1 PASS, not the current year's. Confusing the two ceiling years produces over- or under-stated deductions, with a risk of reassessment or lost benefit.

The second is unaudited software configuration. Many vendors update the PASS automatically, but not always every derived value (daily, hourly, pro rata ceilings). A manual check on a test payslip in January avoids months of incorrect payslips.

The third is director remuneration planning that ignores threshold effects. Crossing from one PMSS bracket to another, or passing an exemption ceiling, changes the marginal cost of an extra euro of salary. This is exactly the type of calculation we factor in when we help you weigh director remuneration between salary and dividends.

The risk clients rarely see coming is the annual ceiling adjustment. Payroll applies monthly ceilings throughout the year, but the law reasons in annual terms. Where salary varies, with absences, or multiple employers, a catch-up is computed at year-end or on the employee's departure. An approximate configuration at the start of the year then translates into an unpleasant adjustment, sometimes on the final payslip of a departing employee, complicating relations and the final settlement.

• Update the annual PASS (48,060 euros) and the PMSS (4,005 euros) in the payroll software from January.
• Check the derived values (daily, hourly, pro rata ceilings) against the official schedule; do not recompute them by hand.
• Review a January test payslip: Tranche 1 / Tranche 2 Agirc-Arrco split, general relief base, exemption thresholds.
• Distinguish the current year's PASS (payroll thresholds) from the N-1 PASS (PER and profit-sharing caps).
• Where relevant, re-calibrate the director's PER contributions against the 37,680 euros cap and the 4,710 euros floor for 2026.
• Anticipate threshold effects before any remuneration decision or exceptional bonus.