#SAVINGS & FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
"The State will take 17% of your savings accounts." The budget text does not say that: it only targets forgotten assets already deposited with the Caisse des dépôts, and their owner can recover them in full.
Published on October 2, 2026 · to be rechecked on December 31, 2026
Article 23 of the draft 2027 finance bill, registered at the National Assembly on 1 October 2026, creates an exceptional 17% levy on the balance, as at 31 December 2026, of dormant assets deposited with the Caisse des dépôts: inactive bank accounts, unclaimed life insurance and capitalisation contracts, sums transferred since the 2014 Eckert law. It would fall due on 1 January 2027 and bring the State €1.4 billion. The government presents it as an advance on the State's eventual entitlement to these sums. If an owner or heirs later claim their money, they get all of it back with interest, without deduction: the State then refunds the levy.
Does the 2027 budget tax savings accounts?
Not savings accounts in general: only forgotten assets held by the Caisse des dépôts (article 23), fully refundable to their owner.
In other words: the State levies 17% of these dormant sums up front, but commits to returning them in full to anyone who claims them.
Five caveats that belong with the number
- It is not a tax on savings accounts in general: only sums already transferred to the Caisse des dépôts after inactivity are targeted, not active savings.
- The sums remain claimable: the owner or heirs recover everything, interest included, with no deduction for the levy, which the State refunds.
- The government calls it "an advance on their allocation to the State": sums never claimed eventually revert to it once the forfeiture period ends.
- The €1.4 billion is the revenue expected in 2027 according to the bill; the text does not give the underlying stock here, and press-quoted amounts are not used.
- It is only a draft: Parliament can still amend or delete article 23 before any vote.
Why it still matters: for a saver who uses their accounts, nothing; for a forgotten sum, claiming it remains possible without loss, and Parliament will decide whether article 23 is adopted.
For you
- Have you ever checked whether you hold forgotten assets at the Caisse des dépôts?
- A levy that is fully refundable on claim: is it a tax or an advance?
Source: Draft finance bill for 2027, article 23 and general statement (text registered at the presidency of the National Assembly on 1 October 2026).
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