Can you get a deferred salary if you worked on your parents' farm?

Verified 11 May 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If you are descendant If you are a farmer and you have participated in the development of the family farm without being paid, you may be entitled to a deferred salary. We explain how to benefit from it.

To benefit from a deferred salary, you must meet the following 3 conditions:

  • Be at least 18 years old at the time of collaboration
  • Have effectively and directly participated in the agricultural operation of your ascending (you must prove your effective participation by any means)
  • Have participated free of charge on the farm. This means that you must not have received any salary for your collaboration, nor have you been associated with profits or losses.

FYI  

If your spouse has also participated free of charge on the farm of your ascendant, he is also entitled to a deferred salary.

Your ascending may, during his lifetime, pay you the deferred salary. He can do it by a donation-sharing for example.

You can also benefit from the deferred salary at the time of the succession of your ascendant. In this case, you must claim the deferred salary before any act of sharing. To find out how to apply, contact a notary.

Who shall I contact

You have no inheritance tax to pay on this deferred salary.

Warning  

The time limit for prescription for the action for payment of salary is 5 years. You must claim the deferred salary within 5 years of the death of your ascendant, even if his spouse is still alive and has the usufruct of the estate.

For each year of participation, you are entitled to an amount equal to the following formula: (Gross hourly minimum wage x 2080) x 2/3.

The hourly amount of the minimum wage to be withheld shall be that in force:

  • On the day of sharing if the operator has died
  • Or on the date of settlement of the claim if the operator is still alive.

Example :

Your parents are dead. You worked on their farm for three years. At 1er may 2026, you can collect the following amount: (12.02 x 2080) x 2/3 x 3 = €50,003.20.

The amount of the deferred salary may not be greater than the assets of the estate. The others heirs so they have nothing to pay out of their own funds.

The period maximum which can be paid is 10 years.

The tax regime for deferred wages varies according to the period of participation in the farm:

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You participated before June 30, 2014

Deferred pay is exempt income tax (regardless of the date of actual payment of salary).

You participated in part or in full after June 30, 2014

Deferred pay is taxable on income.