All these French people should fill out this bank document, but too few do.

Only a few French people know this trick while several million are entitled to it.

This is a trick 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 that several million French people are concerned and can easily benefit from this system. But it is well hidden. < /p>

This particularly concerns holders of a Housing Savings Plan (PEL), opened since January 1, 2018. According to the latest data from the Banque de France, a little over 5 million French people – adults and minors alike – have opened this savings account with their bank over the past six years. This allows you to put money aside and benefit from a favorable borrowing rate compared to the market. when you want to take out a loan for a property 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, it's not enough to fill your pockets. The yield varies depending on the date the account was opened: it is between 1% and 2.25% for those opened since 2018. The interest is calculated according to a slightly complex formula but respecting a simple principle: it is better not to withdraw money to maximize it.

However, each year, the bank automatically deducts a sum on December 31 and pays it to the tax authorities. This is an advance deduction made as income tax. 12.8% of the interest generated over the year goes to the state coffers. If it is not possible to escape this regulation, it is possible to postpone it in time. And it is better to do so.

People who have a reference tax income of less than 25,000 euros for a single person or 50,000 euros for a couple can write to the bank to prevent this payment to the Public Treasury. The interest 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 pay in September, it will be deducted from the current account. The amount in the PEL will therefore not decrease and will always generate a little more interest than if it had been reduced by taxes since the end of December.

If it is already too late to prevent the December 2024 direct debit, interested households can still take steps with their bank to refuse this mandatory direct debit in December 2025. The deadline is set for November 30 of this year. An email to your banker will allow you to complete the necessary document: this is the “down ​​payment exemption”.