Booklet A, LEP, PEL, LDDS, youth booklet… Good news and bad news for your interests

Livret A, Livret d’Epargne populaire, LDDS or even Livret jeunesse all have one thing in common: they are tax exempt. Good news for savers but not for the state which must therefore face a shortfall. So how many billions of euros is the state depriving itself of?

Interest on regulated savings booklets, Livret A, Sustainable and Solidarity Development Booklet (LDDS), and Popular Savings Booklet (LEP) is completely exempt from tax. Good news for savers. But not for the state coffers.

If interest were taxed and subject, for example, to the single flat-rate levy (PFU), as for most investment income, the State would recover 30% of interest generated. The total exemption of these booklets therefore represents a loss of income.

In an annex to the 2024 finance bill, Bercy presented the cost of tax exemptions on the interest on Livret A, Livret bleu, LDDS and LEP but also for the livret jeunesse, PEL and CEL in 2023. The financial weight of this tax advantage should reach 1.10 billion euros in 2023. A cost mainly due to the Livret A (386 million euros) and the LDDS (161 million euros).

PEL, Livret A, LEP… What your State savings cost

Nearly 2 billion euros in 2024

With the Livret A and LDDS rate remaining at 3% until January 31, 2025, the amounts placed in regulated savings accounts continue to increase. Over the first six months of 2023, Livret A and LDDS recorded a net collection of 37.67 billion euros (+7.4%). The LEP, for its part, has been offering a 6% rate since August 1. Today, nearly 10 million French people hold a popular savings account, the ceiling of which rose to 10,000 euros on October 1st.

With such rates, it is difficult for the saver not to favor regulated savings. The state estimates the shortfall for 2024 almost 2 billion euros due to the tax exemption on interest.

Livret A, PEL, life insurance… What your investments really earn you, after tax