Components of the contributions base

A FRAMEWORK DEFINED by the LAW

The base is defined in L. 6527-4 of the French Transport Code:

“… for the calculation of contributions, the gross salary is taken into account, after deduction of the allowances relating to the ground activities independent of the role of air crew member and expenses allowances”.

The base for calculation of the CRPM contributions must be understood by reference to the components of the social contributions base defined in Article L. 242-1 of the French Social Security Code, with the following exclusions:

• All allowances representing business expenses (meals, transport, accommodation, phone, cleaning, debasement, etc.) or business costs;
• All severance payments (redundancy, contractual or…);
• Exclusive legal or contractual severance packages awarded to staff whose contract is terminated pursuant to Articles L. 6521-4 and L. 6521-5 of the French Transport Code.

NON-APPLICATION OF THE DFS

The specific standard deduction (DFS) which may apply to the Social Security contributions base is not applicable to the CRPN contributions base. As a reminder, the DFS consists of applying an allowance to the Social Security base after having fully reintegrated all expenses allowances. However, these indemnities remain excluded in their entirety from the CRPN contributions base.

Examples:

An air crew member receives in January a gross salary of €2,500 and an expenses allowance of €190 (corresponding to 10 meals at a unit cost of €19.00):

1. If the employer does not practise DFS
   • The Social Security base will be equal to €2,500 (gross salary), with the amount of €190 corresponding to expenses allowances being fully deductible pursuant to the Social Security legislation;
   • The CRPN base will be equal to €2,500 (gross salary), with all expenses allowances being deductible pursuant to the legislation.
2. If the employer practises DFS
   • The Social Security base will be equal to (2,500 + 190) – ((2 500 + 190) x 30%), which is €1,883.00, with all expenses allowances having to be reintegrated into the base before applying the deduction of 30%;
   • The CRPN base will be equal to €2,500, with all expenses allowances being deductible from the base, and the specific standard deduction of 30% cannot be practised.

By decision of the Board, the definition of expenses allowances which are excluded in their entirety from the CRPN contributions base is that laid down by the Social Security legislation for business expenses and business costs, whether or not deductible under that legislation. Download our notice expenses allowances.

Applicable caps

The salary subject to contributions is taken into account for the entire salary.

For the pension fund and the insurance fund, it is capped at eight times the annual Social Security cap (PASS) in force for the financial year in question. Thus, the bases for these two funds must be identical.

Concerning the top-up fund, the salary subject to contributions is limited to once the PASS. You must therefore contribute for the entire salary if it is less than 1 PASS, or up to this threshold if the salary is higher.

NB: in the same way as at the URSSAF or the Agirc-Arrco, the cap must be reduced to take account of unpaid periods of absence. The calculation must be undertaken by the calendar (31^st for the months of 31 days, 28^th or 29^th for the month of February, and 30^th for months of 30 days).

Conversely, no cap allowance is permitted according to the rate of employment (legislation on part-time work not transposable to air crew members).

As a reminder, since 1^st January 2017, the only method of adjustment of caps is progressive. Before that date, you had the choice between progressive or annual adjustment. Progressive adjustment is made from one pay to the next and undertaken by aggregation, on each due date of the contributions, of the salaries paid since the 1^st of the year, and by calculating the contributions on the part of this aggregation which does not exceed the cumulative caps corresponding to the total period of employment.

The contributions calculated within the limit of the annual caps must be adjusted each month.

Contribution rates

The contributions of the pension funds are set at a rate which varies each year (base rate).

The contribution rates of the insurance and top-up funds are set by the Board of Directors before 31 December of the previous year.

Under certain conditions, air traffic controllers, professional parachutists and contractual civil security air crew members may ask to contribute at an increased rate for the pension fund (do not confuse these higher rate contributions with the contributions to the top-up fund, which are mandatory for all).

It should be noted that this top-up does not apply after thirty contributory years.

Download our notice How to calculate your 2024 contributions.

The contribution rate for the current and previous years is available in the section Notices and Forms.

Relief on charges

The general reduction in employer’s contributions applicable to salaries below 1.6 SMIC [French minimum wage] as laid down in Article L. 241-13 of the French Social Security Code is applicable to the CRPN for the contributions due for the periods of activity from 1^st January 2021.

The same applies for the exemption from contributions benefiting employers located in Overseas France for the staff used exclusively for these services and assigned to establishments situated in one of these départements or collectivités, known as LODEOM exoneration, as laid down in Article L. 752-3-2 of the same Code.

Further details are given in our notice Reduction of and exemption from CRPN contributions.