2023-07-12 11:30:13
Posted Jul 12, 2023, 11:30 AM
The self-employed are worried. The reform planned in the next budget to improve their pension rights could be made less advantageous than expected in order to limit its impact on public finances, according to their representatives. They decided to appeal to the Prime Minister.
The parameters envisaged by the administration and in particular Bercy “inevitably limit the scope and the interest of the reform and are as many elements of frustration for the self-employed”, writes Pierre Burban, secretary general of the employers’ organization U2P, in a letter sent to Elisabeth Borne in mid-June and consulted by “Les Echos”.
Inequality with employees
The frustration is all the greater as the reform is long overdue. Promised by the government during the presentation of the pension reform at the start of the year, it had already been mentioned during the debate on universal retirement in 2019-2020.
The challenge for the self-employed is to put an end to inequality with employees and improve their pension rights. Because, with equivalent net income, the self-employed who have specific contribution bases and contributions, pay today more CSG (generalized social contribution) than employees. On the other hand, they acquire fewer pension rights on the basis of their contributions.
The self-employed are therefore counting on a reform of the calculation of their contributions and their social security contributions – to pay less CSG. However, their level of levy would not change because they are ready in return to pay more pension contributions to strengthen their rights.
The idea defended by the government at the start of the year was that the change in the social base of the self-employed would benefit the most modest in particular. Knowing that to better accept the pension reform, the executive had decided to upgrade the small pensions of employees. The government also promised to “simplify” the calculation of social contributions and contributions.
Loss of income for the finances of the Health Insurance
Still, the change in the method of calculation, via an overhaul of the base, will however have an impact for public finances, with a drop in the CSG, which finances in particular Health Insurance.
Hence the scenario which was presented by Bercy and the direction of Social Security to the self-employed. It would aim to increase health contributions and not just pension contributions. By limiting the increase in pension contributions and therefore associated rights, the reform could limit the shortfall for Health Insurance from 800 to 500 million euros.
At Bercy, it is indicated that nothing is settled, the equation could therefore be a little different in fine but the independents already fear that the new deal will be less attractive than expected.
“It would not be fair if the money [qui ne sera pas prélevé au titre de la CSG] be reassigned to contributions which do not generate rights, ”deplores Laurent Boulangeat, president of the U2P social affairs commission, which met on Monday to discuss the subject.
Increases in levies
Another cause for concern: “You would have a certain number of self-employed people, those with the highest incomes, who would end up with a higher set of social security contributions than before, which is not at all the goal of maneuver”, explains the one who is also a general agent. This increase would concern 10% of the self-employed and 20% of liberal professionals (lawyers, health professionals, etc.).
During discussions with the self-employed, the administration also mentioned an application of the 2025 income reform. The U2P for its part would like the reform not to be postponed until too late, even if “technically it is complicated”, admits Laurent Boulangeat.
In any case, these complexities fuel the criticisms of the reform. The objective of having a neutral reform that does not increase the level of levies for all self-employed professions and at all income levels “is out of reach”, considers the Institute of Social Protection, a group of reflection dedicated to social protection in a note to be published this Wednesday.
For the Institute, the “poorly born” reform proposal ticks “none of the boxes for greater clarity of social contributions for the self-employed”. The think tank proposes to review only the base of the CSG and the CRDS, but also advances other avenues of reform. This would mean, for example, going back on social contributions on dividends or adjusting certain parameters of savings contracts allowing the self-employed to prepare for their retirement (Madelin contracts).
#Selfemployed #workers #concerned #reform #aimed #improving #retirement