France Payroll Tax Guide
French payroll taxes and social security declarations. The guide covers: the DSN (Déclaration Sociale Nominative) — the monthly electronic declaration of all social data: all employers (whether they have 1 or 1,000 employees) must file a DSN each month, by the 5th of the following month (the "date d'exigibilité"); the DSN replaces the former URSSAF, the "attestation de salaire," the "déclaration d'embauche," and the "certificat de travail"; the DSN includes: (a) the individual data for each employee (the "données nominatives" — the identity, the social security number, the contract type, the gross salary, the social contributions), (b) the aggregate data (the "données agrégées" — the total payroll and the total contributions); the DSN is filed via a payroll software (the "logiciel de paie") that is certified by the DGFiP and the URSSAF; the URSSAF — the body that collects the social contributions (the Union de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d'Allocations Familiales); every employer must register with the URSSAF (the "code URSSAF") and obtain the "numéro de compte cotisant"; the URSSAF collects the contributions and redistributes them to the various branches (health insurance, family allowances, old-age pension, supplementary pension); the payroll calculation — the French payslip (the "bulletin de paie") must include: (a) the gross salary (the "salaire brut"), (b) the employee contributions (the "cotisations salariales" — approximately 20–25% of the gross salary), (c) the deduction for the prélèvement à la source (the withholding tax), (d) the net salary (the "salaire net"), (e) the employer contributions (the "cotisations patronales" — approximately 25–42% of the gross salary); the social ceilings — the "Plafond Annuel de la Sécurité Sociale (PASS)" — approximately €46,368 per year (2026); the "Plafond Mensuel de la Sécurité Sociale (PMSS)" — approximately €3,864 per month; the ceilings are used to calculate the contributions for the old-age pension (the "assurance vieillesse plafonnée") and the complementary pension (AGIRC-ARRCO); the accident insurance (AT-MP) — the "cotisations d'accidents du travail et maladies professionnelles" — the employer's contribution for the mandatory accident insurance; the rate varies by activity and by the company's accident history (the "taux de cotisation AT-MP"): approximately 0.5–8% of the gross salary; the rate is updated every two years by the CARSAT (Caisse d'Assurance Retraite et de la Santé au Travail); the payroll taxes — the "taxe sur les salaires" (payroll tax) applies to employers that are not subject to TVA (e.g., banks, insurance companies, non-profit organisations, and certain professional associations); the rate is progressive from 4.25% to 13.60%; the taxe sur les salaires is paid quarterly to the DGFiP.
French payroll is complex and heavily regulated. The DSN is the single monthly declaration for all social data. All amounts in Euros (EUR). For related reading, see our Hiring Employees Guide → and Social Charges Guide →.
DSN — Monthly Declaration
- Deadline: The DSN must be filed by the 5th of the month following the payment of salaries. The DSN covers: (a) the payroll data (the "paie"), (b) the declarations of social events (the "signaux" — e.g., accident notification, work stoppage, maternity leave), (c) the annual declaration of social data (the "DSN annuelle — the DADS replacement). The DSN is filed electronically via the "net-entreprises" portal.
PASS and Ceilings
- PASS (2026): The Plafond Annuel de la Sécurité Sociale is €46,368. The PMSS is €3,864. The PASS is used to calculate the ceiling for: (a) the old-age pension contribution (the "cotisation vieillesse plafonnée" — 6.90% for the employee and 8.55% for the employer, up to the PASS), (b) the complementary pension (AGIRC-ARRCO) — the contributions are calculated on the tranche 1 (up to 1 × PASS) and the tranche 2 (from 1 × PASS to 8 × PASS).
For the social charges on salaries, see our Social Charges Guide →. For the employee savings plans (PEE, PERECO), see our Employment Benefits Guide →.