People's Savings Account (LEP)
Verified 01 August 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
You have modest incomes and you want to open a savings booklet ? The popular savings account (LEP) is made for you. It is an investment whose attractive interest rate is set by the state. Your savings are safe. You do not have to pay tax on interest but you must meet income requirements to open and hold a SARA. We present you the information to know.
The People's Savings Account (LEP) is reserved for people with tax domicile in France and on condition of income.
Tax domicile condition
To open and hold a SARA, you must be tax domiciled in France.
There is no nationality requirement.
Conditions relating to the tax home
In the same tax home, each Civil partnership or partner may hold a SARA.
The others connected persons to this tax household cannot hold a SARA until they have separate taxation.
An adult (or minor) cannot hold a SARA as long as they are fiscally dependent on their parents. This is the case, for example, of an apprentice or student attached to his parents' tax home, of an adult with a disability if he does not have his own tax return.
Income conditions
To be able to open and hold a SARA, your reference tax income must not exceed certain ceilings.
These ceilings are reviewed annually. They take into account the composition of the family (number of shares) and are different depending on the place of residence.
In metropolitan France
To open a SMP, the bank examines the reference tax income for the year N-2 or N-1.
For example, to open a SARA in 2025, depending on the date of the application to open it, the bank will check the reference tax income for 2023 (on the 2024 tax notice) or the reference tax income for 2024 (on the 2025 tax notice). This tax revenue must not exceed the following limits:
Number of shares of family quotient | Revenue cap |
|---|---|
1 | €22,823 |
1.25 | €25,871 |
1.5 | €28,918 |
1.75 | €31,966 |
2 | €35,013 |
2.25 | €38,061 |
2.5 | €41,108 |
2.75 | €44,156 |
3 | €47,203 |
3.25 | €50,251 |
3.5 | €53,298 |
3.75 | €56,346 |
4 | €59,393 |
4.25 | €62,441 |
4.5 | €65,488 |
4.75 | €68,536 |
5 | €71,583 |
5.25 | €74,631 |
5.5 | €77,678 |
5.75 | €80,726 |
6 | €83,773 |
For each additional half-part | €6,095 |
For quarter share | €3,048 |
Where the tax household's reference tax income exceeds these limits in a year, the SMP may be retained if the reference tax income for the following year falls below the limits.
Overseas
To open a SMP, the bank examines the reference tax income for the year N-2 or N-1.
For example, to open a SARA in 2025, depending on the date of the application to open it, the bank will check the reference tax income for 2023 (on the 2024 tax notice) or the reference tax income for 2024 (on the 2025 tax notice). This tax revenue must not exceed the following limits:
Number of shares of family quotient | Guadeloupe, Martinique, or Réunion | Guyana or Mayotte |
|---|---|---|
1 | €27,008 | €28,235 |
1.25 | €30,233 | €32,121 |
1.5 | €33,458 | €36,006 |
1.75 | €36,683 | €39,892 |
2 | €39,553 | €42,101 |
2.25 | €42,778 | €45,987 |
2.5 | €45,648 | €48,196 |
2.75 | €48,873 | €52,082 |
3 | €51,743 | €54,291 |
3.25 | €54,968 | €58,177 |
3.5 | €57,838 | €60,386 |
3.75 | €61,063 | €64,272 |
4 | €63,933 | €66,481 |
4.25 | €67,158 | €70,367 |
4.5 | €70,028 | €72,576 |
4.75 | €73,253 | €76,462 |
5 | €76,123 | €78,671 |
5.25 | €79,348 | €82,557 |
5.5 | €82,218 | €84,766 |
5.75 | €85,443 | €88,652 |
6 | €88,313 | €90,861 |
+ For each additional half-part | €6,095 | €6,095 |
+ For quarter share | €3,225 | €3,886 |
Where the tax household's reference tax income exceeds these limits in a year, the SMP may be retained if the reference tax income for the following year falls below the limits.
No, an individual cannot open or hold multiple SARAs, as each taxpayer is entitled to 1 SARA only.
Before opening a SARA, the bank must verify that the person already owns the product and meets the conditions.
Reminder
There may be 2 SMPs in the same tax household if the Civil partnerships' spouses or partners, subject to common taxation, hold 1 each.
Yes, it is possible to accumulate an SMP with other booklet accounts (for example, the sustainable development booklet or the booklet A).
A SMP may be opened in the banks authorized to market this savings product.
There are no bank charges for opening, managing and closing SARA.
The bank is prohibited from opening or maintaining a SARA if the conditions are not met.
To check the income conditions, the bank has the choice between 2 possibilities: either to ask the tax administration, or to directly ask the customer (or future customer) who must justify his tax reference income.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
The bank questions the tax authorities
The bank's request relates to whether or not its client is in compliance with the revenue cap. The bank cannot ask for further information about the personal tax situation of its client.
The request of the bank shall be made by a specially authorized person. It shall be transmitted to the tax authorities by electronic means. The application shall include the identification of the customer (name of birth, first names, sex, date and place of birth, address).
If the 1re If the search is not successful, the bank can make a new request to the tax authorities by sending them the tax identification number that their client has given them.
The bank asks the customer to justify his reference tax income
To prove that the client meets the income requirements, the client must submit to the bank his income tax notice (or notice of non-taxation).
If the person has not yet completed his 1re tax return personal (after a death, divorce or if she leaves the tax residence of her parents), the bank may ask her to provide a declaration on honor to certify that the amount of its revenues will be less than or equal to the SARA limit. It will then have to provide the bank with the tax (or non-tax) notice as soon as it receives it.
If the person cannot justify their reference tax income or in case of false declarations, the bank will close the SMP. The money that is on SARA will be transferred to another account in the same institution opened in his name or to a suspense account.
FYI
Any breach by the SARA holder of the conditions of detention may result in the loss of vested interest.
When the SMP is opened, the initial payment is a minimum of €30.
Subsequently, payments are free with a minimum of €10.
SMP can be powered by:
- Cash payment only at the counter where the account was opened
- Transfer from an account opened in the name of the same holder as the SARA
- Or check.
Since 1er July 2023, it is possible to make a transfer to your SMP from an account opened in a bank other than the one where the SMP is located.
The payment limit on SARA is set at €10,000.
Accounting for interest paid by the bank may result in exceeding the ceiling.
When the amount entered on the booklet reaches €10,000, it is no longer possible to make a new payment.
Example :
The total payments are €9,850.
The bank recognizes interest for €180.
The balance of the SMP is the sum of €10,030 (€9,850+ €180).
It is no longer possible to make new payments.
If the bank had not recorded the interest, it would be possible to make further payments for €150.
No, there is no obligation to make periodic payments. Money deposits are possible at any time within the limit of the ceiling.
Yes, withdrawals are possible for free at any time.
They can cover the entire account without the SARA being closed. But the balance of the booklet can never be debited.
Cash withdrawals must be made at the branch of the bank where the SARA was opened.
They can also be made to a distributor in the bank's network if a withdrawal card is associated with the LEP.
Interest rates
Current Rate
The interest rate on SARA is 2.7%.
Old rates
Period | Rate |
|---|---|
From 1erFebruary 2025 to July 31, 2025 | 3.5% |
From 1er August 2024 to January 31, 2025 | 4% |
From 1er February 2024 to July 31, 2024 | 5% |
From 1er August 2023 to January 31, 2024 | 6% |
From 1er February 2023 to July 31, 2023 | 6.1% |
From 1er August 2022 to January 31, 2023 | 4.6% |
From 1er February 2022 to July 31, 2022 | 2.2% |
From 1er February 2020 to January 31, 2022 | 1% |
From 1er August 2014 to January 31, 2020 | 1.25% |
From 1er August 2013 to July 31, 2014 | 1.50% |
From 1er February 2013 to July 31, 2013 | 2.25% |
From 1er August 2011 to January 31, 2013 | 2.75% |
From 1er February 2011 to July 31, 2011 | 2.50% |
From 1er August 2010 to January 31, 2011 | 2.25% |
How are interest calculated?
SARA interest is calculated on 1er and the 16th of each month.
The interest for the first fortnight of the month is calculated on the 16th of the month, and the interest for the second fortnight is calculated on the 1ster of the following month.
The date of the value taken into account for the calculation of interest varies according to the date of the transaction (deposit or withdrawal):
Operation | Until 15 of the current month | From the 16th of the current month |
|---|---|---|
Deposit | 16 of the month | 1er day of the following month |
Withdrawal | Last day of the previous month | 15 of the month |
The sums deposited produce interest if they are placed in full fifteen.
At December 31 of each year, the accumulated interest for the year is added to the principal.
The amount generated by these interests may be withdrawn from 1er January of the following year.
The interest paid by the bank is exempt from tax on income and social levies.
SARA may be subject to a third-party administrative seizure.
Yes, it is possible to transfer a SARA, without losing interest, to another bank that has the right to market SARA.
Following the transfer request, the bank will wait until the end of the current month to stop calculating interest. The transfer will therefore be effective the following month.
There is no time limit imposed.
The booklet remains open as long as the required income conditions are met and the holder justifies them to the bank.
If the income for the penultimate year (N-2) exceeds the limits, the person does not automatically lose the right to hold a SARA.
It will be able to retain SARA if its N-2 revenues fall below the ceilings the following year.
But if its N-2 revenues exceed the ceilings over 2 consecutive years, SARA will must be closed.
SARA closure is possible at any time.
The SMP opening contract specifies the procedure to follow with the bank (form to be completed, etc.) to close the SMP.
If the SARA holder is a protected adult, closure must be made by the legal representative, under the conditions laid down by the applicable legal regime.
Please note
The SARA holder must apply for closure of the SARA if he/she ceases to meet the income requirements for 2 consecutive years.
The bank is obliged to automatically close a SMP in the following cases:
- The holder holds several SARAs
- The holder no longer fulfills the conditions of income or tax domicile to benefit from the SMP
- SARA is considered inactive
- The SARA holder has died.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Definition and operation of SARA
SARA beneficiaries (Article R221-33), documents to be provided (Articles R221-34 to R221-37), closure (Article R221-38)
How SARA Works
Interest rates for the period from August 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026
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Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR)