Top-up pension schemes: contributions doubled and an additional 30% contribution on high annuities

Article 15 of the 2010 Social Security Financing Act raises the contributions paid by employers on defined-benefit supplementary pension schemes ("retraites chapeaux", Article L. 137-11 of the Social Security Code). The contribution on annuities rises from 8% to 16% for annuities paid from 1 January 2010; the contributions on premiums and allocations are set at 12% and 24%. An additional 30% contribution applies to annuities above eight times the annual social security ceiling, for pensions paid out from 2010. Schemes created from 2010 must be managed by an insurer, a mutual or a provident institution.