NormanH, my original post is not a wind up. I am genuinely in a bind here. And I hold a strong position high up in public office back here in London. I want this taken care of. So please, no slagging me off. There is also a family tragedy involved during my time in France which made my wife and I very upset and blurred many of the ordinary issues we had to face during this extremely hectic time. To clarify, I started work without a social secutiry number. I remember from the time I received my pay cheques that there was an enormous amount of money taken from my gross salary leaving me with about 40-45% money in my hand. I talked to other expats at my office and they said "oh, at the end of the year, you will still have to do a tax return and you will have more taxes to pay". So I thought fine. I went to double check with payroll department and they told me that without a Social Security number a "special arrangement" would have to be made. I "assumed" - me - not anyone else that perhaps what that arrangement was would be something similar to how the UK operates. Don't ridicule me. I was brought over to France at the very last minute. I spent most of my time on the road. I was assured by my company that upon arrival they would advise me and they would provide a tax advisor to support my understanding of how things were done. I then travelled extensively, pushed continuously for support whilst I was on the road (making calls to my firm - who had offered to help). When you HR Manager says "don't worry, we'll investigate for you", one tends to believe that you are indeed being taken care of. I left France believing that the appropriate special arrangements had been made for my circumstances and never thought naything about it again. My very last conversation the HR director was cordial and she told me that there was "nothing else to be settled" and off we went. "All in all it is complete nonsense" - NormanH, I politely decline to receive any further responses from you. Everyone else, thank you for your inputs and I welcome any further thinking you guys may have. I will most defintely contact a French accountant today.