French Social Security Contributions

[Whatamess]

[8-)]Hi

My husband and I are hoping to move to France next year.  We have already bought a property to renovate.

My husband is a retired police officer and, as such, he receives a pension from the police, which I understand will remain taxed in the UK and not France.  I do not currently work outside of the home.  Neither of us is of pensionable age, and will not be for some years to come.

We will come to France with an income of approximately £1,500 per month and with a capital sum of approximately £200,000.00, though I expect a good deal of that will be swallowed up by renovation costs.

We ultimately hope to renovate our outbuildings (as so many people do!) and use them as holiday lets, but it will be a couple of years before this will come to fruition.  We also hope to obtain permission to accept up to 10 touring caravans on the property (7 acres).  This will hopefully supplement our income (we know that it will not make "a living").

My rather long winded question is this, If we are not employed or earning anything in France, will we still be expected to pay social security contributions?  I have tried to read up on this subject but must admit I am a little confused by it, and would be grateful for any guidance.

Thanks

[Nick Trollope]

[quote user="Whatamess"]

My rather long winded question is this, If we are not employed or earning anything in France, will we still be expected to pay social security contributions?  I have tried to read up on this subject but must admit I am a little confused by it, and would be grateful for any guidance.

[/quote]

Brief answer; no.

But, unless you can prove that you can a) support yourself and b) have pre-arranged medical insurance, then you may not be allowed to become residents, if I interperate the "new" rules correctly.

However, this is a fantastically complex and very fluid matter at the moment. I would take some professional advice.

[Iceni]

[quote user="Whatamess"]

My rather long winded question is this, If we are not employed or earning anything in France, will we still be expected to pay social security contributions? 

[/quote]

But you will have an income of GBP18.000 p.a. + interest on capital while it lasts - these will be subject to tax and social security in France. Others will tell you how much you may have to pay.

John

not

[Sunday Driver]

You will become tax resident in France the day after you arrive to live in your new home and you will need to submit your first tax declaration in the following April.

You declare your husband's (UK taxed) police pension together with the interest earned on the capital sum.  The police pension will not be subject to French tax or social charges, but will be taken into account when calculating the overall French tax rate.  The interest will subject to tax and the standard 11% social charges on unearned income.

 

 

[LesFlamands]

As I understand it, if the income from your holiday lets and caravans is more than 15000 Euros p.a. then you have to register as a business. I know that you won't have this income for a while but with the changes in the health cover for people under retirement age it may be better to be in the French system rather than pay for private health insurance.

[cooperlola]

Les Flamands has a very good point. Your health will be covered by an E106 - which will last anything up to 2.5 years, depending upon your circumstances - when you move in relation to your retirement date, your contribution history etc.  After that it's private health insurance or register a business, paying full cotisations (social security, health, pension contributions etc).  Many people who are already here are doing the latter because a) it's safer - you 'll be covered for any pre-existing or chronic medical conditions you may have and b) in some cases is it cheaper, than PHI.  But be aware that if you are lucky enough to be able to pay into the French healthcare system, you do still need top up insurance as only around 70% of the costs for most treatments are reimbursed.