Assisting spouse

Who is an assisting spouse?

It is the married spouse or legally cohabiting partner of a self-employed person who actually helps them, regularly or for at least 90 days a year. A partner who simply lives with them without legal cohabitation is not eligible.

A spouse who has a salaried or civil service job, a replacement income giving entitlements of their own, or more than €3,000.00 of personal self-employed income a year does not fall into this category: they are already covered. The status is also excluded if the self-employed person being helped is taxed as a company director.

The maxi-status, the default scheme

It is a full social security status, with the same rights as a self-employed person as a main occupation: pension, health care, incapacity for work, maternity and the bridging right. The mini-status, compulsory for assisting spouses born before 1956 (who can opt for the maxi-status), covers only incapacity for work, disability and maternity; it is calculated on the income of the self-employed person being helped, including the spouse's share.

In practice, a spouse registered under the maxi-status pays contributions on the remuneration allocated to them for tax purposes, at main-occupation rates, with a floor of €7,632.44 and a minimum quarterly contribution of €391.16 excluding management fees. In return, they build up a career and a pension in their own name.

Access to the PLCI/VAPZ, the real lever

This is the most interesting and least known consequence of the maxi-status. A registered assisting spouse who is up to date with contributions can take out their own PLCI/VAPZ, with their own ceiling of €4,086.34.

For a couple running a business together, this doubles the household's PLCI/VAPZ deduction capacity. The amount the spouse can deduct depends on their own income, which means the split of income between the two must be real and documented.

The mini-status, a residual scheme

The mini-status covers only incapacity for work, disability and maternity, and gives no pension entitlement. It applies to assisting spouses born before 1956, who can opt for the maxi-status. The contribution is 0.79% of the income of the self-employed person being helped, with a minimum of €34.31 per quarter.

If it still applies to your situation, ask your fund to check whether it remains the most favourable scheme: the difference in pension entitlement is felt throughout retirement.

Splitting income between spouses

The status requires allocating to the assisting spouse a share of the business income, on which they pay contributions and build up entitlements. This allocation must match normal pay for the work they do and may not exceed 30% of the business's net income, unless it is clear that their work justifies more: that is the point an audit examines.

The split has knock-on effects on both spouses' contributions, on the household's tax and on the two PLCI/VAPZ ceilings. It deserves to be worked out with the accountant rather than set out of habit.

Not to be confused with

The terms close to Assisting spouse and what sets them apart.

Assisting spouse and a spouse employed by the company

A spouse hired under an employment contract falls under the NSSO (ONSS/RSZ) and the employee scheme. An assisting spouse has no employment contract and falls under the NISSE (INASTI/RSVZ).

Assisting spouse and self-employed as a secondary occupation

Someone with a secondary occupation runs their own activity on top of a main occupation. An assisting spouse takes part in another self-employed person's activity, with no activity of their own.

Further reading

• Adjustment (regularisation) of social security contributions
• INASTI, Institut National d'Assurances Sociales pour Travailleurs Indépendants (National Institute for the Social Security of the Self-employed, NISSE)
• ONSS, Office National de Sécurité Sociale (National Social Security Office, NSSO)
• Provisional exemption (social security contributions)
• All glossary terms

Assisting spouse: frequently asked questions