Urssaf

What Urssaf does

Urssaf (Urssaf Caisse Nationale) is the French statutorily designated agency responsible for collecting mandatory social security contributions that fund France's general social protection system, including maladie, retraite, allocations familiales, CSG-CRDS, formation professionnelle, AT/MP, and chômage. It serves all private and public-sector employers in France, self-employed individuals (auto-entrepreneurs, artisans, commerçants, professions libérales, Cipav-regulated PLR, medical practitioners), individual employers (particuliers employeurs), artists-authors, maritime professionals, and third-party declarants such as experts-comptables and digital platforms. The agency operates a hybrid digital/in-person model anchored by the unified urssaf.fr self-service portal, which provides account creation, online declaration, contribution calculation, and payment.

The agency's technology stack centers on the Déclaration Sociale Nominative (DSN) for monthly employer declarations, alongside Pajemploi for childminder payments, Cesu for individual employers, and Tese for seasonal workers. Urssaf also operates the open.urssaf.fr open-data portal and integrates with the wider French administrative ecosystem (guichet unique via INPI, Boss.gouv.fr, portailpro.gouv.fr). Pricing is statutory rather than commercial: contribution rates are codified in regulation (Code de la Sécurité sociale, Code du travail, Code des transports) and updated annually, with specific rates varying by contributor profile, sector, and geographic location (including Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and outre-mer regimes). There is no commercial API or third-party channel for direct contribution processing.

Distribution is delivered through 26+ regional agencies across metropolitan France and overseas territories, the digital portal, and a network of third-party declarants. Recent strategic activity includes a €1.7 billion legal assessment against Uber (February 2026) for misclassified drivers, emergency contribution deferrals for the fishing industry during the 2026 fuel crisis (alongside Bpifrance), and the implementation of 2026 contribution rate updates reflecting the 2024 assiette sociale reform. Urssaf also experienced a significant data breach via its Pajemploi service affecting up to 1.2 million users in late 2024.

Name

Urssaf

Legal name

Urssaf Caisse Nationale

Website

https://urssaf.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Urssaf is the French state agency statutorily responsible for collecting mandatory social security contributions from employers, self-employed workers, and individuals, funding France's general social protection system.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Social Security Administration

NAICS

Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Government Digital Service & eGovernment (Service Delivery, IDs, Portals) (BPAIAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

State/Provincial Human Services & Benefits Administration (Welfare, Disability, Child & Family) (BPAIABAI)

Keywords

• Social security collection
• Employer contribution declaration
• Payroll tax administration
• Self-employed contribution services
• Statutory social charges

Headquarters

HQ city

Montreuil

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices27 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Social security contribution collection (cotisations sociales): Core revenue stream consisting of mandatory social security contributions collected from employers (cotisations patronales et salariales), independents (artisans, commerçants, professions libérales), and individual employers (particuliers employeurs) across France. Includes contributions for maladie, retraite, allocations familiales, CSG-CRDS, formation professionnelle, and sector-specific contributions (e.g., C3S, TSA, Lodéom). Rates and bases are codified in annually updated barèmes (e.g., taux médecin secteur 1, Cipav PLR).
2. Recovery surcharges (majorations de retard): Penalty/recovery fees added on top of assessed contributions when employers are found to have misclassified workers or underpaid contributions (e.g., €512 million in surcharges in Uber dispute). Includes the ability to grant remises de majorations de retard in cases of difficulty.
3. Contribution exemptions (exonérations) administered as revenue forgone: Urssaf administers a wide range of contribution exemptions including Acre (aide aux créateurs/repreneurs d'entreprise), réduction générale dégressive unique, épargne salariale exemptions, zonée exemptions (ZRR, ZRD, BER, Lodéom, St-Pierre-et-Miquelon), secteur exemptions (JEI, ateliers/chantiers d'insertion, aide à domicile), and partial-activity (activité partielle) contributions. These function as policy levers that reduce or shift revenue collection timing.
4. Deferred contribution payments (délais de paiement): Short-term liquidity mechanism allowing contributors to defer social security contribution payments during crises (e.g., 2026 fishing-industry fuel crisis). Functions as receivables rather than immediate revenue, with structured repayment schedules.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Urssaf is the French government agency that collects mandatory social security contributions from employers, independents, and individual employers across France, funding the country's social protection system (maladie, retraite, allocations familiales, CSG-CRDS, formation professionnelle, AT/MP, chômage). It provides unified online declaration and payment services (DSN, Pajemploi, Cesu, Tese), administers contribution exemptions (Acre, réduction générale dégressive unique, zonées, secteur), and manages partial-activity and bad-weather indemnity schemes. It operates 26+ regional offices and a nationwide self-service digital portal serving every French employer and self-employed worker.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pajemploi: Service for paying childminders (assistantes maternelles) and individual employers managing home-based childcare; affected by a 2025 cyberattack.
• Cesu
• Auto-entrepreneur
• Tese
• Mon Conseil Urssaf
• Mon entreprise

Products and services

• Mon Conseil Urssaf Advisory service helping users find answers to their legal or administrative questions and discover the full range of dispositifs available to accompany their démarches with Urssaf. Targeted at the general public.
• Première embauche Onboarding service guiding new employers through their first hiring steps. Targeted at artisans-commerçants, unregulated and regulated liberal professions.
• Cesu (Chèque Emploi Service Universel) Service simplifying and facilitating the daily life of individual employers and home-based employees, handling declarations and social contributions. Targeted at particulier employeur and salarié du particulier employeur.
• Pajemploi Service for paying childminders (assistantes maternelles) and managing declarations for individual employers using the Pajemploi scheme.
• Mes premiers mois avec l'Urssaf Support program accompanying auto-entrepreneurs through the key stages of their first year of entrepreneurship to help them launch their business successfully.
• Activité partielle (chômage partiel) Short-time work scheme (formerly chômage partiel) allowing employers to maintain employees during temporary economic difficulties. Includes both standard activité partielle and APLD (longue durée), with employer allocations and employee indemnities.
• Dispositif de chômage intempéries Bad-weather unemployment scheme for certain BTP (construction and public works) activities, indemnifying employees during work stoppages due to bad weather. Targeted at BTP employers.
• Fermeture de l'entreprise Service guiding employers through voluntary or forced business cessation, judicial redress procedures, and employer death scenarios. Coordinated with the Guichet unique (INPI).
• Tese (Titre Emploi Service Entreprise) Simplified declaration and payment service, notably promoted for seasonal and extra worker recruitment, allowing employers to handle formalities in one place.
• Rescrit social Service providing a binding advance ruling from Urssaf on how social security rules apply to a specific situation an employer or independent is planning.
• Médiation de l'Urssaf Mediation service users can resort to when dissatisfied with Urssaf's response to a claim, offering an alternative dispute-resolution channel.
• Mobilité internationale Service covering cross-border work scenarios, including international mobility certificates, secondment of employees abroad, and work by frontier workers (e.g., Suisse).
• Avance immédiate (crédit d'impôt) Service enabling individual employers to benefit from an immediate advance on the tax credit for employing a home-based worker, rather than waiting for annual tax reconciliation.
• Comparateur de statut juridique Online simulator letting users compare legal status options when creating an activity, helping them choose the most appropriate form (e.g., individual enterprise vs. company, AC/PLNR vs. PLR regimes).
• DSN (Déclaration Sociale Nominative) Monthly employer declaration of social contributions transmitted through the DSN system, replacing most prior declarative flows.
• Attestation de vigilance Certificate issued by Urssaf attesting that an employer is up-to-date with its social security contributions, required for public contracts. Available online with verification.
• Mon entreprise Companion Urssaf microsite that models and simulates employer and self-employed social contributions, accessible from the Urssaf homepage under Liens utiles.
• Mon intéressement Companion Urssaf microsite dedicated to employee profit-sharing schemes (intéressement, participation), accessible from the Urssaf homepage.
• Données publiques (open.urssaf.fr) Public open-data portal providing statistics and downloadable datasets on social security contributions, employment, and economic activity for journalists, researchers and partners.
• Auto-entrepreneur service (autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr) Dedicated self-service sub-portal for auto-entrepreneurs with simplified interface for declaring revenus and paying simplified cotisations.
• CEA (Chèque Emploi Associatif) Service for associations (employeurs du secteur associatif) to simplify declarations and payment of social contributions for their employees.
• TFE (Titre Firmes Étrangères) Service for foreign firms without a permanent establishment in France to fulfil their declaration and payment obligations for seconded employees.
• IEA (International Employment Agency) Service for international employment agencies placing employees in France to handle declaration and payment obligations.
• Visite conseil On-site advisory visit service for employers to obtain personalised guidance on their social security obligations and contribution optimisation.
• VLU (Volet Unique de Liaison) Service for large employers to coordinate with Urssaf via a dedicated liaison interface for their contribution and declaration obligations.
• Questions juridiques Legal questions service for employers seeking formal answers to specific social security law issues affecting their organisation.
• Économie collaborative Service addressing declaration and contribution obligations for revenues generated through collaborative economy platforms (peer-to-peer services).

Quantifiable outcome

• Tax credit available to particuliers-employeurs using Cesu/Pajemploi (avantage fiscal/credit d'impôt).
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles8 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• État français (French State) and UnedicflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-finance the activité partielle (partial activity) allocation paid to employers, jointly with Unedic. Allocation is versée by the Agence centrale de services et de paiement (ASP) on behalf of the State and Unedic. APLD dispositif is also financed by État and Unedic. Codified in code du travail (L5122-1 et suivants, R5122-1 et suivants) and law 2020-734 of 17/06/2020.
• Agence de services et de paiement (ASP)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOperational partner that handles versement of partial-activity allocations to employers on behalf of Urssaf. The ASP is referenced in the activité partielle workflow (demande d'autorisation préalable à la DDEETS, then demande d'indemnisation analyzed by DDEETS and versée by ASP).
• DDEETS (Directions départementales de l'emploi, du travail et des solidarités)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDepartmental authority that analyzes activité partielle requests (délai max 15 jours) and processes demandes d'indemnisation for partial activity. Forms part of the State-Urssaf workflow codified in code du travail.
• INPI (Institut national de la propriété industrielle)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOperates the guichet unique (formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr) where employers must submit enterprise création/modification/cessation declarations. The guichet unique automatically informs Urssaf of company lifecycle events — Urssaf's employer account is then radiée on cessation.
• Cipav (Caisse interprofessionnelle de prévoyance et d'assurance vieillesse)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRetirement insurance body for Cipav-regulated professions libérales; Urssaf publishes the specific barèmes for Cipav-affiliated PLR contributors (retraite de base 8.73% up to 1 PASS + 1.87% up to 5 PASS, retraite complémentaire 11% up to 1 PASS + 21% from 1 to 4 PASS, invalidité-décès 0.50%). Detailed calculation delegated to cnavpl.fr.
• CNAVPL (Caisse nationale d'assurance vieillesse des professions libérales)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational pension fund for liberal professions; the detailed Cipav contribution calculation logic is referenced to cnavpl.fr for retirement complémentaire and invalidité-décès amounts.
• Service-public.fr (Direction de l'information légale et administrative)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCross-reference partner providing complementary administrative information to citizens (e.g., 'Absence d'un salarié pour cause d'intempéries : quelles sont les règles ?' on service-public.fr). Service-public.fr is also linked from the Urssaf.fr footer for general administration access.
• Boss.gouv.fr / portailpro.gouv.frminorGTM or Marketing PartnerComplementary State services referenced from Urssaf footer — Boss.gouv.fr for the payroll simulator and portailpro.gouv.fr for professional declaration portal; Urssaf and these portals cross-promote employer-facing administrative services.
• Direction de l'information légale et administrative (DILA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerHosts plus.transformation.gouv.fr (Services publics +) and lannuaire.service-public.gouv.fr — both referenced from the Urssaf footer for contributor engagement and feedback (Je donne mon avis).
• UberminorOthersSubject of a €1.7 billion Urssaf assessment issued via 142-page document (€1.2 billion avoided payroll taxes + €512 million recovery surcharges) covering approximately 71,194 drivers (2019-2022). Urssaf concluded Uber exercised 'triple power of management, control and sanction' over drivers despite platform framing. Uber is contesting and in active discussions with Urssaf as of February 2026.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ACOSS (Agence Centrale des Organismes de Sécurité Sociale): Historically coordinated the French social security collection network of Urssaf caisses; it has been integrated into Urssaf Caisse Nationale. Remains a structural peer reference for network-level coordination of contribution recovery across France.
• CNAF (Caisse Nationale des Allocations Familiales): Administers French family benefits — a sister agency within the French social security network. Comparable as a state-run social-protection caisse with a national digital portal, regional offices, and contributor-facing service model.
• CNAV (Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Vieillesse): French national pension fund that, like Urssaf, manages social security flows under a statutory monopoly and works alongside Urssaf on Cipav-regulated liberal professions and retraite complémentaire barèmes. Operates the same regionalized public-agency model.
• UNEDIC: Manages France's unemployment insurance regime and co-finances activité partielle allocations with Urssaf. Direct peer in administering chômage-related contributions and operating alongside Urssaf in the partial-activity workflow.
• CPAM (Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie): Operates the French health-insurance branch of the social security system, parallel to Urssaf. Both are state-administered caisses nationales within the same French social protection architecture and share contributor-facing digital services, regional agency networks, and regulatory coordination.

Regional players

• INPS (Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale): Italy's national social security institute, responsible for collecting contributions and administering social protection benefits. European peer with comparable statutory role, regional structure, and multi-persona contributor base.
• Bundesagentur für Arbeit: Germany's federal employment agency administering unemployment insurance contributions and labour-market schemes. Comparable European peer with statutory contribution-collection authority and integrated short-time work (Kurzarbeit) administration analogous to Urssaf's activité partielle.
• HMRC (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs): UK's integrated tax and contribution collection authority. Comparable as a statutory national agency collecting both taxes and National Insurance contributions via a unified digital portal — a UK counterpart to Urssaf's contribution mandate.
• TGSS (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social): Spain's social security treasury, the statutory collector of Spanish social security contributions. Closest European functional analogue to Urssaf outside France, operating under a similar statutory monopoly and digital declaration model.

Broad incumbents

• DGFiP (Direction Générale des Finances Publiques): France's national tax authority. Comparable as the broader incumbent collecting taxes (rather than social contributions) for the State, with overlapping digital portals, regional offices, and contributor-facing services — historically discussed as a potential consolidator of social contribution collection.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/urssaf
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCSjS8hOXCs5FlAnTi74rPrA
• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%2C+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.urssaf.fr%2Faccueil%2Femployeur%2Freduire-cesser-activite%2Ffermeture-entreprise.html&t=La+fermeture+de+l%27entreprise
• LinkedInfr.linkedin.com/company/urssaf-caisse-nationale
• Instagraminstagram.com/urssafofficiel
• TikToktiktok.com/@urssafofficiel

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries26 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urssaf