Interest payment dates for French tax-free savings accounts
Livret A savings accounts saw interest rates fall throughout year
Some accounts receive interest tax-free
Christian Horz / Shutterstock
Interest accrued in France’s popular regulated ‘Livret A’ savings accounts is set to be paid in the coming days, after final calculations were made.
Exact dates for payments vary, but for accounts held with most major banks will fall between December 30 and January 5.
Annual interest payments on many other regulated savings accounts (such as LEP, LDDS, PEAC) should also be made during this time frame.
If you do not see the interest in your Livret A or other accounts by January 5 or shortly after you may wish to contact your bank.
For Livret A accounts, interest paid in January 2026 is calculated by fortnightly balances, with December 15 being the last date on which new deposits can generate interest for the year.
In other words, any deposits made after December 15, 2025 are not taken into account for interest paid in January 2026.
The payment is made directly into the Livret A account by the bank.
As a reminder, a maximum amount of €22,950 can be placed into the accounts, although interest on this figure will be added each year.
How much interest will account holders receive?
Livret A interest rates have dropped considerably throughout the year, from 3% on January 1 - 31, 2.4% from February 1 - July 31, and 1.7% since August 1, totalling a weighted average annual rate of 2.16%.
Exact amounts can be hard to calculate if the balance changes regularly throughout the year due to deposits / withdrawals.
However, if €1,500 was left in the account for the year, it would accrue €32.40, down from €45 in 2024.
A €12,000 balance will have accrued €259.20 and €7,482 – the average amount held in the account in 2023 – will have earned interest of €161.61.
Financial site Moneyvox offers an interest simulator, and some banks offer account holders an estimation of how much they are to receive.
Interest rates on the account are set to fall further in 2026, to at least 1.4% based on historic inflation levels.
Is interest taxed and must it be declared?
Interest paid into Livret A accounts is tax-free and does not need to be declared.
This applies to most regulated savings accounts, including the Livret d'épargne populaire (LEP), Livret de développement durable et solidaire (LDDS), Livret jeune, and Plan épargne avenir climat (PEAC).
There are some exceptions, however.
The CEL (compte épargne logement) earns 1.25% interest (if opened after August 2025), but this is taxed at 30% (12.80% income tax and 17.20% social security contributions).
Unless opting for the ‘réclamer une dispense de prélèvement fiscal’, banks will automatically deduct this from the interest payable (although for such accounts opened before 2018 only the social security charges are deducted).
Likewise, PEL (plan épargne logement) savings accounts also face a 30% tax on any interest accrued, at the same rates. Accounts opened before 2018 are exempt from income tax until they have been open for 12 years.
Interest from general, non-regulated savings accounts with banks (compte sur livret or ‘super-livrets’) are also taxed at 30%.
Rules for other savings and investment portfolios such as assurance vie, PEA (plan d'épargne en actions) and others depend on how long they have been open, and you should check with your bank or financial advisor for specific rules.
