Basham

Many thanks Naps. Your specific information was very helpful. Roger Basham

Thanks for all the response, but I'm still slightly confused. Derf, Les, Naps and M all say no problem, whereas Will says he had to close his Cahoot account. Was this, perhaps because Will made the fatal mistake of telling Cahoot he had moved abroad, or was it simply down to the fact that Will's move abroad was more recent and therefore caught by the new money laundering laws, in line with what Catalpa says? None of you say when you made the move and took up French residence, but this could be crucial in determining your experience if the money laundering laws are starting to bite and are being enterpreted more rigorously by some financial institutions than by others. Noone has addressed the issue of whether or not there is feedback from Inland Revenue to the various financial institutions who deduct tax at source, about taxpayers who have moved abroad, so one assumes that it probably doesn't happen, because otherwise someone out there would know about it. Forum Guru is the only one who has suggested an offshore alternative to UK Building Societies, but my enquiries to date tend to show a considerably lower rate of interest and often annual charges for the privilege of having an offshore account. It looks like that with this issue, like so many others associated with moving to France, there are no clearcut answers, and it all depends on who you ask (or if you ask at all) and how you phrase the question. Many thanks for all the helpful input. Roger Basham

Having decided to look into the possible financial consequences of acquiring French fiscal residence, it occurred to me that as all UK Bank and Building Society savings accounts require proof of UK residence before they can be opened, a move to France might entail having to close down any such accounts. I have asked LloydsTSB, and having initially reassured me that there would be no problem, they checked with their own online savers helpline when pressed, and now say that our online savers account would have to be closed down. Presumably, if this is really true for this account, it would also be true for other similar accounts, like Cahoot or Ingdirect, which require proof of UK residence. Does anyone know if a) this is really true, b) this is a case of there being a difference between theory and practice, in the sense that if one did not inform them of a move abroad they would never know, c) any such Banks and Building Societies would in any case soon be informed by Inland Revenue that the account holder had moved abroad (following their remittance of tax deducted at source to Inland Revenue), and lastly d) if there is any equivalent to an online savings account available to a UK ex-pat living in France which pays comparable interest - i.e. 4-5% AER. Roger Basham  

I am interested in finding out how the new capital gains tax rules would affect a self-build project. How would the purchase price of the property be assessed? Does anyone know?