Annuities

[val douest]

This concerns the old question of where to put income from annuities on the tax form. I have looked at the FAQs, but the link for further information there doesn't show anything; maybe there is no further information. I did consult the local tax office, with no useful result.

I have read what I think is the relevant section (page 6) of fichedescriptiveformulaire_7575.pdf, and, as far as I can see, if the contributions to the annuities were exempt from tax (in the UK in our case) then the pensions would be added into the section "Pensions, retrait etc". Otherwise, they would go into "Rentes viagères".

It does make a difference, particularly to the CSG and CRDS contributions, since we are exempt from these on our pension income, but not on rentes viagères.

Any comments or help very welcome!

[mint]

I asked on this Forum a few years ago and we were told that they go under rentes viagères and so, that's where they go, even though OH, being self-employed, you could argue that they should be lumped with pensions (this is because annuities could be paid for by an employer or solely financed by you yourself).

So, yes, we do pay Contributions Sociaux on the annuities.

However, to help your calculations, you need to look at what your pension income amounts to and your taxe d'habitation.

What I mean is, if your joint (or single) pension falls below the threshold for paying TH but not if you add in the annuities then, depending on the amount of your TH, you might be better off paying the Contributions Sociaux on your annuities and get off not paying TH.

Arrrggg....not sure I have explained it at all well but perhaps someone like Parsnips can tell you in better detail.

[val douest]

Thanks, sweet 17, I understand your point.

As a result, I have persuaded myself the annuities should be placed in the pensions box.

[parsnips]

[quote user="val douest"]Thanks, sweet 17, I understand your point.

As a result, I have persuaded myself the annuities should be placed in the pensions box.

[/quote]

Hi,

    This is such a grey area that anyone can make an "honest" mistake declaring them.   If you pay no or low income tax , then you are better off declaring with other pensions; if you pay high income tax (over 10% say) you would probably be better off declaring as "rentes viagere"

[val douest]

Thank you, Parsnips, very helpful.

So, since the online process gives you the option of seeing how much tax, CSG and CRDS you would pay for various "scenarios", I have finally opted to put them in rentes viagères.

Maybe the tax authorities can "see" what I'm doing as I try juggling the numbers. That doesn't worry me since they have given me conflicting advice in the past, ie they don't know either.