For companies with fewer than 50 employees, 2026 is the last year in which the value-sharing bonus (prime de partage de la valeur, PPV) can be paid free of CSG and CRDS (social security levies) and income tax for employees. For bonuses paid from 1 January 2027, this regime disappears. To date, it has not been extended. The Social Security Financing Bill for 2027 contemplates a partial extension, but nothing has yet been decided[1].
There are therefore three months left to decide, formalise and pay.
What the PPV still allows in 2026.
The PPV is exempt from employee and employer social security contributions, up to €3,000 per employee per year. This ceiling rises to €6,000 in two cases: if the company is subject to statutory profit-sharing (participation) and also applies an incentive scheme (intéressement) agreement, or if it is not subject to statutory profit-sharing and applies an incentive scheme or voluntary profit-sharing agreement. This exemption from contributions has no end date.
What ends on 31 December is the regime reserved for companies with fewer than 50 employees. For employees whose pay over the twelve months preceding payment is less than three times the annual French statutory minimum wage (SMIC), the bonus is also exempt from CSG, CRDS and income tax. The employee then receives the full amount paid.
Under the current legislation, from 2027 the bonus will remain exempt from contributions, but it will be subject to CSG, CRDS and income tax. The only exception: employees who invest their bonus in an employee savings plan or a company retirement savings plan do not pay income tax on that sum.
The Social Security Financing Bill for 2027 does, however, provide for a one-year extension, until 31 December 2027, of the CSG and CRDS exemption for companies with fewer than 50 employees. It does not, on the other hand, extend the income tax exemption. This is only a bill: it must still be debated and passed by Parliament, and its content may change. If it were adopted as it stands, only bonuses paid in 2026 would remain exempt from income tax without having to be invested in a savings plan.
The rules to follow
The PPV is introduced by company or group agreement, or by unilateral decision of the employer. If the company has a works council (CSE), the employer must consult it before taking its unilateral decision. This is the step that requires the most advance planning.
The bonus may be restricted to employees whose pay does not exceed a certain ceiling. Its amount may vary from one employee to another, but only according to five criteria: pay, classification level, length of service, actual time present during the past year and working time provided for in the contract. Individual performance is not one of them.
The bonus may not replace any element of pay, nor any pay rise or bonus already provided for by an agreement, the employment contract or established practice. Two bonuses may be granted in the year, with no more than one payment per quarter. For 2026, there is therefore only one possible payment left.
Two points to check before paying
The first concerns the general reduction in employer contributions. The law now adds the amount of the PPV to the pay used to calculate this reduction. For employees who qualify for it, the bonus therefore reduces the relief enjoyed by the company. A prior simulation makes it possible to measure the real cost.
The second concerns companies with at least 11 employees that are not subject to mandatory profit-sharing. If they have made a net taxable profit of at least 1% of their turnover for three consecutive financial years, they must introduce a value-sharing scheme for the following financial year. This obligation applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2025. The PPV is one of the schemes that can be used to meet it.
The timetable
In practice, you need to:
- set the amount, any pay ceiling and the criteria for variation;
- draft the unilateral decision or negotiate the agreement;
- consult the CSE, if there is one and the bonus is introduced by unilateral decision;
- pay the bonus no later than 31 December 2026.
The PPV remains one of the few ways of distributing purchasing power without social security contributions. For companies with fewer than 50 employees, under the current legislation, it will no longer be as advantageous after 31 December.
[1] Social Security Financing Bill for 2027, text submitted for deliberation to the Council of Ministers on 1 October 2026, Article 7
