Key facts at a glance
CSG
9.20%
6.80% déductible + 2.40% non déductible
CRDS
0.50%
Funds CADES social debt repayment
PAS taux neutre range
0% – 43%
20-band grid, article 204 H CGI
Three deductions sit on every French salarié payslip that people routinely lump together as "French tax": CSG, CRDS, and the income tax collected via prélèvement à la source (PAS). They're genuinely different mechanisms, created at different times, for different purposes, calculated in different ways, and mixing them up is the single most common source of confusion when reading a French payslip.
CSG itself splits further into a déductible portion (6.80 points) that quietly reduces next year's taxable income, and a non déductibleportion (2.40 points) that doesn't. CRDS (0.50%) funds an entirely separate social-debt repayment vehicle. And PAS isn't a tax at all, it's a collection method with three different rate options depending on your household situation and privacy preferences.
See exactly how these three deductions split on your own salary.
Open the France calculatorCSG déductible vs non déductible: the split that actually matters
CSG's 9.20 points aren't a single number for tax purposes, they split into 6.80 points déductible and 2.40 points non déductible, and the difference is what it does to your income tax bill. The déductible portion is subtracted from your gross salary before your net imposable is calculated, meaning it directly lowers the base your barème progressif income tax runs against. The non-déductible portion (and the separate 0.50% CRDS) are withheld identically on your payslip, but neither one reduces your taxable income at all.
On a €60,000 salary, that means roughly €4,009 of CSG genuinely lowers next year's taxable income, while another €295 CRDS plus €1,415 non-déductible CSG doesn't touch it. Both amounts leave your bank account the same way, on the same payslip line, but only one of them ever shows up again on your tax return.
Why CSG and CRDS exist as separate charges from income tax
CSG was introduced in 1991 to broaden how French social protection gets funded, spreading the base beyond payroll-only cotisations to a wider range of income types. CRDS followed in 1996 with a narrower, specific purpose: funding CADES (Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale), the vehicle created to amortize accumulated social security debt. Income tax, collected via PAS, funds general government spending with no earmarked destination at all.
That's the real reason they're not folded into a single line: they're legally and administratively distinct charges, created decades apart, for distinct funding purposes, that simply happen to all get withheld from the same payslip.
The 4-PASS ceiling: only relevant at very high salaries
CSG/CRDS is calculated on 98.25% of gross (a 1.75% abattement for notional frais professionnels), but only up to 4 times the annual PASS, €192,240 for 2026. Above that threshold, the assiette reverts to 100% of gross for the excess, so the effective CSG/CRDS rate ticks up slightly at very high income levels.
At €60,000 this never comes into play. At €250,000, though, the assiette becomes €246,635.80 rather than €245,625.00 (98.25% flat), producing €23,923.67 of CSG/CRDS instead of €23,825.63, a small but real difference that only shows up well above typical tech salaries.
PAS: three rate types, and which one applies to you
Prélèvement à la source, introduced 1 January 2019, doesn't have one universal rate, it has three, and which one your employer applies depends on your situation. The taux personnalisé (or taux du foyer) is calculated by the DGFiP from your full household tax return and applies the same rate to both spouses in a jointly filed married or PACS couple. The taux individualisé, the default for such couples since September 2025, splits that same total household tax burden based on each spouse's own income share, so a lower earner pays proportionally less than a higher-earning partner while the household's total tax stays identical.
The taux neutre(non personnalisé) works completely differently: a 20-band statutory grid (article 204 H CGI) based purely on monthly salary, as if you were single with no other income, ranging from 0% below €1,635/month to 43% above €55,558/month for 2026. It applies automatically for new employees before the DGFiP has a return on file, or can be actively chosen if you'd rather your employer not infer anything about your household finances from the rate you're assigned.
Choosing the taux neutre is a privacy option, not a discount
The taux neutre exists so your employer doesn't have to know your real household tax rate, useful if a lower rate would reveal a spouse's low or zero income, or a higher rate would reveal significant other income they'd otherwise have no visibility into. It changes what's visible to your employer, not what you actually owe.
If the taux neutre rate is lower than your real personalized rate would have been, you're required to pay the shortfall directly to the DGFiP yourself, monthly, alongside whatever your employer withholds. It's a genuine trade-off between privacy and administrative simplicity, not a way to reduce your actual annual tax bill.
See your own CSG/CRDS and income tax split
Enter your gross salary and see exactly how much goes to CSG, CRDS, and income tax on your own numbers.
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Frequently asked questions
Why does CSG split into 'déductible' and 'non déductible'? What's the actual difference?
It comes down to whether that portion can reduce your taxable income the following year. The 6.80-point CSG déductible is, as the name says, deductible: it lowers your net imposable before the barème progressif is applied, which is exactly why lib/fr-tax.ts subtracts only the déductible CSG (not CRDS or the non-déductible CSG) when computing net imposable avant abattement. The 2.40-point CSG non déductible and the 0.50-point CRDS are withheld the same way on your payslip, but neither reduces your taxable income at all; they're pure deductions with no downstream tax benefit. On a €60,000 salary, that split works out to roughly €4,009 of déductible CSG that quietly lowers next year's taxable base, versus €295 of CRDS plus €1,415 of non-déductible CSG that doesn't.
What do CSG and CRDS actually fund, and why are they separate from income tax?
CSG (contribution sociale généralisée) was introduced in 1991 specifically to diversify social security funding beyond payroll-based cotisations alone, spreading the base to cover a wider range of income types. CRDS (contribution au remboursement de la dette sociale) came later, in 1996, dedicated specifically to funding CADES (Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale), the body set up to repay accumulated social security debt. Income tax, by contrast, funds general government spending with no earmarked purpose. All three sit on the same payslip line, but they were created for entirely different reasons at entirely different times, which is part of why the terminology gets confusing.
What is the '4 PASS' ceiling on the CSG/CRDS assiette, and does it apply to typical tech salaries?
It's a threshold, 4 times the annual PASS (Plafond Annuel de la Sécurité Sociale), €192,240 for 2026, below which CSG/CRDS is calculated on 98.25% of gross (the 1.75% represents a notional frais professionnels abattement). Above that threshold, the assiette reverts to 100% of gross for the excess. At €60,000, this doesn't come into play at all, the full salary sits well under the ceiling. At €250,000, though, it does: the assiette becomes €246,635.80 (98.25% of the first €192,240, plus 100% of the remaining €57,760), producing €23,923.67 of CSG/CRDS rather than the €24,250 you'd get from a flat 9.70% on the full amount. It's a real mechanic, but one that only affects the highest tech salaries and executive compensation.
What is prélèvement à la source, exactly, and how is it different from CSG/CRDS?
Prélèvement à la source (PAS), introduced 1 January 2019, is the mechanism that collects your income tax liability monthly rather than as a single annual bill the following year. It has nothing to do with CSG/CRDS, which are withheld separately, at a fixed rate, on every payslip regardless of your tax return. PAS instead applies a rate the DGFiP calculates specifically for you (or a default rate, explained below), deducted from your gross pay alongside, but functionally separate from, CSG/CRDS.
What's the difference between the taux personnalisé, taux individualisé, and taux neutre?
These are the three ways your PAS rate can be set. The taux personnalisé (also called taux du foyer) is calculated by the DGFiP from your full household tax return, income, parts, credits and all, and applies identically to both spouses in a married or PACS couple filing jointly. The taux individualisé, the default for married or PACS couples filing jointly since September 2025, splits that same household tax burden between spouses based on each person's own income share, so a lower earner pays a lower rate than a higher-earning spouse even though the total household tax stays the same. The taux neutre (or non personnalisé) is different in kind: a 20-band statutory grid (article 204 H CGI) based purely on your monthly salary, as if you were single with no other income and no family situation, ranging from 0% below €1,635/month to 43% above €55,558/month for 2026. It applies automatically when the DGFiP has no return on file yet (a new employee, for example), or can be chosen deliberately if you don't want your employer to infer your household's tax situation from the rate they're told to apply.
If I choose the taux neutre to keep my finances private from my employer, do I end up paying less tax?
No, and this is an important distinction: the taux neutre doesn't change your actual annual tax liability, only what your employer withholds monthly. If the taux neutre rate applied to your salary is lower than your real personalized rate would be, you're required to pay the difference directly to the DGFiP yourself, monthly, rather than have your employer collect it. It's a genuine privacy option, not a tax reduction, and choosing it adds an administrative step you wouldn't otherwise have.
Does any of this apply differently if I'm not a salarié, for example as an auto-entrepreneur?
Yes, meaningfully. Auto-entrepreneurs don't have CSG/CRDS withheld on a payslip at all, their cotisations sociales (25.6% of turnover for most BNC freelance activity in 2026) fold social contributions into a single flat rate on revenue. Some auto-entrepreneurs opt for the versement libératoire, which folds a flat income-tax rate into that same monthly URSSAF payment instead of using PAS at all. It's a genuinely different collection mechanism end to end, see our dedicated auto-entrepreneur vs salarié comparison for how it actually nets out.