Social Charges and Uk pensions

[Nicola]

Sorry, this may have been covered before but I can't find exactly the answers I am looking for.

My husband is retired (over 65) with a UK pension on which he does not pay social charges.   I am not yet of pensionable age.  If I earned money on which I payed cotisations  could I  assume that my husband's pension would not be affected?  I have read somewhere that if one starts earning any money after retirement on which cotisations are paid, then UK pension becomes subject to social charges too!

Any information greatly appreciated 

[EuroTrash]

I also seem to remember reading that this can happen. As I recall it was because liabilities and benefits are all calculated jointly based on household income, rather than you and hubbie having separate benefits and liabilities as you would in the UK. Could be wrong but I think part of your joint income would be exempted and part of it would be subjected to social charges. I guess it depends on your respective incomes, whether that works to your advantage or not.

[parsnips]

[quote user="Nicola"]

Sorry, this may have been covered before but I can't find exactly the answers I am looking for.

My husband is retired (over 65) with a UK pension on which he does not pay social charges.   I am not yet of pensionable age.  If I earned money on which I payed cotisations  could I  assume that my husband's pension would not be affected?  I have read somewhere that if one starts earning any money after retirement on which cotisations are paid, then UK pension becomes subject to social charges too!

Any information greatly appreciated 

[/quote]

Hi,

    This is , as so often in France , a bit of a "grey" area.   It has to do with where you first claim your state pension, so your husband's is , I am sure ,safe.

 If you were to be employed in a position where you paid into the french pension system , and I think this is not always automatic (perhaps members with personal knowledge will advise) - then you may not be able to claim your UK state pension from the UK , but have to get it from the french pension caisse, who will pay a combined pension.   It is possible , and some people have experienced this, that the UK  would not issue a form S 1  for you , and you would have to pay french CSG on your pension.

     I believe there are other forum members who will have something to contribute to this thread.

[idun]

 Parsnips, as long as the OP has made enough payments into the UK system, then when they are old enough they will be able to claim from the UK. Quite possible to have pensions from multiple countries.

[AnOther]

[quote user="idun"]Quite possible to have pensions from multiple countries.[/quote]I thought the rules were designed to prevent just that, or at least benefiting by receiving more than you would from the most generous state scheme you had paid into ?

All good info for those thinking about working in France though, the laws of unintended consequences mean that it's not something to launch into without fully understanding the potential consequences which could negatively affect you for the rest of your life.

[NormanH]

I can't comment on the situation about a couple where there are two different sets of circumstances.

In my own case despite the fact that the 'official' way of claiming a UK   OAP is to do it via the French, as I also had contributions into various French'caisses'  in fact I claimed my French bit at 63 as I had enough qualifying years to do that, then claimed my UK OAP direct at 65 when I got to that age.

As far as paying social charges are concerned what seems to happen is this:

If you have enough French contribitions in to get a monthly paid pension then you come under the French for Health care and have to pay charges on the OAP, and any FRench pension or income but not I believe any UK Governmant pension.

(The rule is that if you live in a country which pays you a pension however small it is that country which pays your health care. If you have worked in several and the one you live in now does NOT pay you a pension then your care is paid for by the one from which you draw the highest pension)

If you only have a few contributons your pension entitlement in France is paid out in one lump sum and thereafter you are not subject to social charges.

[idun]

[quote user="AnOther"][quote user="idun"]Quite possible to have pensions from multiple countries.[/quote]I thought the rules were designed to prevent just that, or at least benefiting by receiving more than you would from the most generous state scheme you had paid into ?

All good info for those thinking about working in France though, the laws of unintended consequences mean that it's not something to launch into without fully understanding the potential consequences which could negatively affect you for the rest of your life.

[/quote]

We have a swedish friend who lives and works in the UK, but when they got to Swedish retirement age, applied for their swedish pension via Newcastle and got it.

In our case, at the appropriate french pension age applied to Newcastle, once old enough the UK pension will be paid too and will depend on how many years have been paid into the system.

When the french pension was due to be paid, they wanted a full working history from both countries. Believe me if anyone does not have a full working history and are depending on a proper french pension, then they could have problems.

approx in our case, 164 trimestres were required to get a full french pension. 52trimestres in the UK + 112 in France made this up. Then they worked out the amount to be paid, as everyone is different, and so the amount to be paid is X€ divided by 164 x112. So the french only pay out on the amount of time on paid into the system in France. And at the appropriate age, the UK pension will be paid. So pensions from both countries, yes, possible for us and our swedish friend.

[idun]

Sorry don't know how social charges would be affected if a spouse started working in France and the other one was on a UK pension.

Strikes me that there is more than one poster in this situation and should know.

[Nicola]

Many thanks for responses so far. I suppose I am more concerned at the moment that my earning any money doesn't affect my husband's pension as far as social contributions are concerned.  Also, I have a very small government pension and hope that I wouldn't have to pay social contributions on this either.

[Nicola]

Parsnips, I see you have answered my main query - I would hope that my husband's pension in left untouched (apart from income tax)

Thanks

 

[Lou]

Our situation isn't exactly as you describe, but may be helpful.

My

husband has a work pension (not yet state pension age) which is

declared in France and on this he pays social contributions. I work, I

have both salaried and auto-entrepreneur income - on both of these the

social contributions are taken "at source", and thus when we declare our

mixed joint income for the tax return, only his pension results in a

further social charges bill. So there is, it would seem, the means for

distinguishing between different kinds of income on the same tax return

for social contributions.

I hope that makes sense (and is some help!)

Lou

[Nicola]

Lou

I am sorry for the delay in responding to your kind post - yes this makes sense and helps!