Vacation time has come for deputies and senators. After three weeks of intense debate and compromise with the right, Parliament definitively adopted, Thursday, August 4, the second part of the package of measures in favor of purchasing power by a final vote in the Senate.
This package of measures for purchasing power, designed to deal with the record level of inflation and the increase in energy prices, was a key subject of the presidential campaign. It constituted the first large piece of the new term of Parliament and a form of test for the new strategy of the executive, deprived of an absolute majority in the National Assembly. Here are some emblematic measures appearing in the texts adopted within the framework of the emergency bill for purchasing power and the amending finance bill.
An increase in pensions and social benefits
Retirement and disability pensions under the basic schemes, which had already increased by just over 1% in January, will benefit from a 4% increase, which will be retroactive to July 1. LFamily allowances, active solidarity income (RSA), allowance for disabled adults (AAH), solidarity allowance for the elderly (Aspa) and scholarships for students, based on social criteria, will also be increased by 4 %. Some of these social benefits had already been increased by 1.8% in April. In addition, the APL paid from July 1 will be revalued by 3.5%, to help offset potential rent increases.
The tripling of the “Macron bonus”
The ceiling of the exceptional bonus for purchasing power will increase from 2,000 to 6,000 euros net for companies that have signed a profit-sharing agreement or those with less than 50 employees. This measurement will be exempt from income tax and social security contributions, for employees whose income is less than three times the value of the minimum wage.
Set up in 2019, in the context of the “yellow vests” crisis, this tax-free “Macron bonus” can be paid by employers between August 1 and December 31, 2023. In private, the premium may be made permanent in the form of a “value sharing premium”, which will be exempt from social security contributions.
Capping rent increases at 3.5%
The benchmark rent index will rise by 3.5% in July and then remain stuck at this level for a year (2.5% overseas). This “rent shield”, which will be in place from July 2022 to June 2023, should make it possible to limit the impact of high inflation on rent increases and to make the expenditure that households devote to their housing predictable. so far, the benchmark rent index was indexed to inflation.
The “deconjugalization” of the allowance for disabled adults (AAH)
Voted in a rare moment of consensus in the Assembly, this measure, effective no later than October 1, 2023, implies that the allowance for disabled adults (AAH) – intended to compensate for the inability to work – will no longer be calculated on the basis of the salary of the spouse of the person with a disability, but as a personal income.
It was a long-standing request from the associations. The idea of ”deconjugalization” had been the subject of several refusals from the executive during the previous legislature. With a maximum amount of 904 euros per month, it is paid according to medical and social criteria and today has more than 1.2 million beneficiaries.
The revaluation of the index point of civil servants
Frozen since 2017, the index point for civil servants increases by 3.5% from August 1, with retroactivity to July 1. According to the service-public.fr site, this is the highest increase in thirty-seven years for some 5.7 million civil servants. This increase represents a total cost of 7.5 billion euros for the State.
The abolition of the audiovisual license fee
Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promise, the abolition of the audiovisual license fee will be effective from the fall, with a gain for households of 138 euros, i.e. a shortfall of 3.2 billion euros for public broadcasting, which the State has said it wants to compensate by an allocation of share of VAT receipts until 31 December 2024.
This measure had been voted in the National Assembly with the votes of the majority, the Republicans and the National Rally. On the other hand, it had aroused concern in the ranks of the Nupes, which had voted against unanimously.
The continuation of the energy tariff shield
The “fuel discount” will be extended to -30 cents per liter in September and October, then to -10 cents per liter in November and December. With discounts from distributors and oil companies, the government is counting on a price per liter of gasoline or diesel at the start of the school year. “around 1.50 euros”.
The envelope of 230 million euros, proposed by the deputies to support homes heating with fuel oil, was also validated. This amendment to the draft amending budget for 2022 had been tabled by the government. Finally, the ceiling for tax-free aid that companies can pay to employees to cover their fuel costs is doubled to 400 euros.
The tariff shield on gas and electricity prices is extended until the end of the year. The price of gas will be frozen and the increase in the price of electricity, capped at 4%. The cost of the measure will depend on the evolution of the gas price.
The purchase of RTT by companies possible until 2025
While the government wanted the conversion of RTT into salary is limited until 2023, the senators wanted to perpetuate the device. In a joint joint committee, the parliamentarians finally found an arrangement: employers will be able to buy back from their employees their hours of RTT not taken until December 31, 2025.
This measure, criticized by part of the left, allows any employee who benefits from RTT not to ask them and to convert them into salary paid by the company. This remuneration will be exempt from taxes and contributions.
Raising the ceiling for tax-exempt overtime
The ceiling applicable for tax exemption for overtime hours is increased from 5,000 to 7,500 euros. The measure was made permanent by the Senate, with the support of the government. The National Assembly had initially voted for an increase in the overtime tax exemption ceiling, but only for the year 2022, as part of its debates.
A budget of 600 million euros allocated to local authorities
To compensate for the 4% increase in RSApaid to benefit recipients by the departments, and help local authorities to finance the increase in the index point for local civil servants, 600 million euros are dedicated to them in total, in particular via a support fund for municipalities and inter-municipalities in difficulty. The departments will receive 120 million, in compensation for the increase in the RSA they pay.
The revamped back-to-school bonus
Exceptional back-to-school aid of 100 euros per household (+ 50 euros per child) will be paid to beneficiaries of social minima such as the RSA, the AAH or the specific allowance for the elderly (Aspa). People above the minima and receiving the activity bonus will receive an additional payment which will be added to the 4% increase in the activity bonus on 1 July.
The implementation of a biometric vital card
To fight against social fraud, 20 million euros are planned to initiate the establishment of a biometric vital card system, which is less easily falsified. The measure was included in an amendment tabled by the senator and president of the LR group, Bruno Retailleau.