Booklet A

Verified 01 August 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Want to grow your savings securely and tax-free? You can open a booklet A. It's an investment where the interest rate is set by the government, taking inflation into account. Your money remains available and you can withdraw if needed.

Booklet A may be opened by all natural persons and by certain legal persons.

Natural person

Everyone has the right to hold an A booklet, there is no age requirement, nationality, or tax residence in France.

If you are a minor you can open a booklet A without the intervention of your legal representative, but you can't opt out until you're 16. In addition, you need the agreement of your legal representative to make the withdrawal.

If you are subject to a legal protection measure, your legal representative can open the account for you.

Legal person

The legal persons The following may hold an A booklet:

  • Non-profit association not subject to business tax
  • Union of co-owners
  • HLM Organization

The booklet must be opened in the name of the legal person by a person who is entitled to represent it legally.

Booklet A can be opened in any bank.

Before opening the account, the bank must check whether the holder already has an A booklet or not.

The account shall be opened by a contract between the bank and the account holder or his representative.

The contract must mention the prohibition of holding several A-books and the penalties incurred in case of non-compliance with this rule.

The contract must also specify the rules governing the operation of the account (deposit, withdrawal, calculation of interest, closure of the account, etc.).

Natural person

Each authorized person or association shall have the right to hold only one booklet A.

It is therefore forbidden to hold several booklets A.

When considering the opening request, the bank must ask the tax administration to check whether you already have a booklet A or not.

The tax administration must respond to the requesting institution within a maximum of two working days.

The bank can't open it until it has that answer.

Failure to comply with the prohibition on holding more than one booklet A shall be punished by a fine corresponding to 2% of the outstanding amount of the second booklet. The fine shall not be recovered if it is less than €50.

Legal person

Each corporation has the right to hold only one booklet A, but low-income housing organizations may hold more than one booklet.

When considering the opening request, the bank must ask the tax authority whether the corporation that is not a low-rent housing organization already has an A book or not.

The tax administration must respond to the requesting institution within a maximum of two working days.

The bank can't open it until it has that answer.

Failure to comply with the prohibition on holding more than one booklet A shall be punished by a fine corresponding to 2% of the outstanding amount of the second booklet. The fine shall not be recovered if it is less than €50.

A booklet A can be combined with other booklet accounts (e.g. the sustainable development booklet).

On the other hand, it is prohibited to hold both a livret A and a special account on livret du Crédit Mutuel (livret Bleu), unless it was opened before September 1979.

Book A works like a regular savings account.

The paper booklet on which deposits and withdrawals were recorded is replaced by statements of account.

You do not receive a checkbook or a payment card, but the bank can issue you a withdrawal card that can be used in ATMs on its network.

The operations carried out on booklet A are free of charge: opening, deposit, withdrawal and closing.

General case

The minimum amount of a payment on booklet A is €10.

Postal Bank

For booklet A opened at La Banque Postale, the minimum amount of a payment is €1.5.

You can pay your booklet A by check, by cash at the counter or by bank transfer from a demand account.

As of July 1, 2023, you can make a transfer to your livret A from a demand account opened in a bank other than the one where livret A is located.

The situation is not the same for natural and legal persons.

Natural persons

The maximum savings amount on booklet A is €22,950.

The cap can be exceeded when interest is added to your savings.

But when the balance of the booklet reaches the ceiling, or exceeds it, following the addition of interest, you can no longer make a deposit to the account.

Legal persons

The maximum savings amount on booklet A is €76,500.

For syndicates of condominiums whose number of lots of the condominium for use in dwellings, offices or shops is more than 100, this ceiling shall be increased to €100,000.

Low-income housing organizations are allowed to make deposits on their booklet A, with no limit on a limit.

The cap can be exceeded when interest is added to your savings.

But when the balance of the booklet reaches the ceiling, or exceeds it, following the addition of interest, you can no longer make a deposit to the account.

Minimum Withdrawal Amount

General case

The minimum amount you can withdraw from the livret A is €10.

Postal Bank

The minimum amount you can withdraw from the livret A is €1.5.

FYI  

if you are a minor, you cannot withdraw from your booklet A until you are 16 years old. But even if you're 16, your legal representative has the right to refuse to withdraw money from your booklet A.

Maximum Withdrawal Amount

There is no maximum withdrawal amount.

But you can't withdraw more money than you have on your booklet A.

Indeed, the balance of livret A must never be negative.

Is it possible to remove everywhere?

The account holder may withdraw from all branches, but the legal representative of the holder may withdraw only in the agency where the account was opened.

What is the interest rate on livret A?

The annual interest rate for Book A is 3%.

How is the interest on Book A calculated?

Interest is calculated on 1er and the 16th of each month.

The value date taken into account for the calculation of interest varies according to the date of the transaction (deposit or withdrawal):

Tableau - Date of the value taken into account for the calculation of interest according to the date of the transaction

Operation

Until the 15th of the current month

From the 16th of the current month

Deposit

16 of the same month

1er day of the following month

Withdrawal

Last day of previous month

15 of the month

The sums deposited bear interest if they are invested in whole fortnight.

Example :

If you deposit money on your booklet A between 1er may and may 15, the deposit will be taken into account by the bank on may 16.

If you deposit money on your booklet A between May 16 and May 31, the deposit will be taken into account by the bank on May 1er June.

If you withdraw money from your booklet A between 1er may and may 15, the withdrawal will be taken into account on april 30.

If you withdraw money from your booklet A between May 16 and May 31, the withdrawal will be taken into account on May 15.

On December 31 of each year, the interest accrued on the year is added to the capital.

The addition of interest on December 31 may increase the value of the booklet beyond €22,950.

Interest added to the capital at the end of the year in turn yields interest the following year, although the ceiling has already been exceeded.

Interest shall be exempt from income tax and social security contributions.

A seizure can be made on your livret A by the administration or by a creditor who has obtained a court order recognizing your debt to it.

The transfer of a booklet A from one bank to another is no longer possible since the 1er January 2012.

If you want to transfer your livret A, you must first close it in the first bank and put the savings into an account of your choice.

You can then open a new booklet A in another bank and transfer the savings that were on the old booklet.

You can close your booklet A at any time by sending a letter to your bank or by traveling to your branch.

You must specify the references of the booklet A and the account number where the amounts remaining on the booklet are to be deposited.

The bank must close within 15 working days upon receipt of your request.

If the bank does not close within this period, you can refer to the Banking Ombudsman.

In order to prove the date of receipt of the application by the bank, you must send the registered mail or request an acknowledgement of receipt at the counter.

FYI  

in the case of closure of the livret A during the year, interest on the period from 1er January to the balance sheet date are credited to the balance sheet date of the account.

If the holder of the livret A is a minor child, or a person under legal protection, the closure must be made by the legal representative.

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