Pension

Framework agreement

By the Finances Indépendants editorial teamUpdated on 3 min readAlso known as: Pension plan rules, Contrat-cadre

Contents
  1. What is a framework agreement?
  2. What the framework agreement must specify
  3. Why every change goes through an amendment
  4. Who drafts and who keeps the document
  5. Not to be confused with
  6. Further reading
  7. Frequently asked questions

What is a framework agreement?

The framework agreement, also called the pension scheme rules, is the written agreement between the company setting up a pension commitment and the insurer that manages it. It describes what the plan promises and on what conditions, whereas the insurance policy merely carries it out.

Without it, the tax authorities can refuse to allow the premiums as deductible: the expense must rest on a formal commitment, not on a simple decision to pay a premium. It is as much a compliance document as an insurance document.

What the framework agreement must specify

The document sets all the parameters of the plan, and it is their stability over time that the tax authorities examine in an audit.

  • Who is covered: a named director for an IPC, a category of staff for group insurance.
  • The benefit formula: the lump sum or annuity promised, and how it is calculated.
  • The funding method: periodic premium, single premium, back-service, and how they fit with the 80% rule.
  • The beneficiaries in the event of death before maturity.
  • The payout conditions, in particular age and remaining active.

Why every change goes through an amendment

A pension plan is not set in stone: the director's remuneration changes, a back-service is decided, the premium is revised. Each of these changes must be recorded in a dated amendment to the framework agreement.

What is at stake is proof. In an audit, it is the chronology of the documents that shows the premium paid matched an earlier commitment, and was not a year-end adjustment designed to absorb profit. A premium without a matching amendment is the most common weakness in these files.

Who drafts and who keeps the document

The insurer generally provides a template, which the broker adapts to the company's situation and the accountant checks for consistency with the accounts and the remuneration. The company approves it by a decision of its competent body.

The original is kept with the company's corporate records for as long as the commitment has effect. A framework agreement that cannot be found at the time of an audit weakens the deduction of every premium for the period.

Not to be confused with

The terms close to Framework agreement and what sets them apart.

Framework agreement and the insurance policy
The policy is the insurance contract itself, which carries out the commitment. The framework agreement is the agreement upstream, which establishes the commitment and justifies the deduction.
Framework agreement and group insurance
Group insurance covers a category of employees under collective scheme rules. A framework agreement can underpin an individual IPC as well as a collective plan.

Further reading

Framework agreement: frequently asked questions

  • In practice, yes. Deducting the premium requires a formal pension commitment: without a written agreement describing the plan, the tax authorities can refuse the expense and add it back to the company's taxable profit.

  • The insurer provides the template, the broker adapts it to the company and the director, and the accountant checks consistency with the remuneration and the accounts. The company approves it by a decision of its competent body.

  • Yes. Back-service changes the funding of the plan and must be recorded in a dated amendment. It is this documentary precedence that shows, in an audit, that the premium matches a commitment and not an opportunistic adjustment.

  • The deduction of the premiums for the period concerned becomes fragile, since the commitment cannot be proven. Reconstructing the document after the fact is difficult: keeping it is part of the company's record-keeping obligations.

  • It sets the benefit formula and the funding method, not necessarily a fixed amount. The deductible ceiling is still determined by the 80% rule, recalculated at every significant change in remuneration.

  • If the change affects the 80% ceiling or the benefit formula, yes. It should be a reflex at every review of remuneration, since a reduction that is not reflected is the leading cause of exceeding the ceiling.

Official source

  1. FSMA, supplementary pensions. View (new tab)(Official source, accessed on 2026-09-19)