Loopy Lou Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 I have an endowment policy that was once connected to my mortgage in the UK (and still is to an extent, but won't be when I sell up here and settle all my debts). It matures in 2015 and won't pay out what it was supposed to pay out originally, but will probably be a reasonably tidy sum. As it has been paid out of taxed income, will I have to pay any further tax on this sum when I receive it, assuming that I will be living in France by then?Thanks for your words of wisdom.Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 At present you would pay tax and social charges on the gain. However the EU are attacking the way in which France treats French issued policies more favourably so by the time 2015 comes around you may only have to pay the 11% social charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loopy Lou Posted July 22, 2005 Author Share Posted July 22, 2005 I wouldn't be taxed on it in the UK, would I? My understanding is that if I am resident in France when the policy matures I will have to pay French tax and wouldn't be able to get round the problem by leaving the money in the UK or giving it to my children (fat chance!)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickKnipfler Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Crikey....I didn't know this! I guess I should think twice about moving to France until after my policies mature... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Sorry at a personal level most incoming money is subject to tax in France if you are french resident, even Premium Bond wins. Just because UK tax is not applicable does not mean that it is tax free in France.We have seen a lot of people caught out with the initial lump sum payable on private & public sector pensions.Wish it was differentJan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 I 'may' well be totally wrong on this but I 'think' you can offset what you have paid against what you receive - well you did pay for the endowment, it was not a win.We have a small life insurance and we 'seem' to have been told that you can offset what you payed into this against what you receive and pay tax on the difference. Suggest you take advice on this as I 'may' have got the wrong end of the stick. This of course would not be the case with pensions unless they were personal pensions but then I am extrapolating from one bit of advice about life policies into other areas and am probably getting it all wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 Iceni, where are you based? We can't get the PMs to work! We're back in UK now but next time we're back near bretenoux we'd love to say hello.rgds Goose & Tracie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinNLin Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 We asked this very same question at our local tax office last year and were informed that if the policy was taken out before 1991 in England then it was not taxable. The person was introduced to us as the tax office's expert on English/French affairs. I hope she was right as we have acted on that basisLinN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loopy Lou Posted July 23, 2005 Author Share Posted July 23, 2005 I may be ok then. I took the policy out in 1990. Yippee. However, I shall be taking expert advice on all matters financial before I make the move. Thanks for your input everyone. Much appreciated.Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkkent Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 We asked this very same question at our local tax office last year and were informed that if the policy was taken out before 1991 in England then it was not taxable.I may be mistaken, but my recollection is that until about that time, the premiums on endowment policies could be set against income tax. Since then, premiums for new contracts have not been exempt from tax. Are you sure the person advising you was not telling you this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 Clark, I don't think it's right . The Impots would't treat England differently from the rest of the UK and HM Customs and Revenue do not employ English/French affairs experts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 [quote]Iceni, where are you based? We can't get the PMs to work! We're back in UK now but next time we're back near bretenoux we'd love to say hello.rgds Goose & Tracie.[/quote]Hi Goose and Tracie, send a mail to [email protected] and it will get to me. Love to meet you - we have made so many friends on this board. Let us know when you are coming over and you can come and see what 'one room living' is like. We were having coffee in the Cafe de la Post with the English contingent this am, our Saturday market of preference is at Bretenoux.We are south of St Céré in the hills above Aynac. We love this area of France.Hope this makes sense, started on new medication today and staying awake is a major problem, supposed to clear up in a day or so but I am certainly catching up on my sleep.Written by Di - regards from John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 [quote]We asked this very same question at our local tax office last year and were informed that if the policy was taken out before 1991 in England then it was not taxable. I may be mistaken, but my reco...[/quote]If memory serves, when we were having the big debate at the start of the year about income tax, someone suggested that premiums for life policies taken out in France could be offset against tax, but on investigation with the french tax people they said"For life insurance policy by a french company, the contract has to be sign between the 1 .01.1996 and the 04.09.1996 to give a tax credit".This answer came from an E mail I sent to a E mail address posted here by Derf (Les). You E mail your question (in English) and you get a response back in a couple of days. Might be worth just dropping them a line with your query about UK endowment premiums to make sure you were told about UK policies and not French insurance premiumsThe Email address is[email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Having done at bit more digging, it appears that the French authorities are now (from 1/1/2005) treating other EU country's life insurance policies in the same, more favourable, way that French policies always have been.In essence this means that profits on a policy that mature after more than eight years are only taxed at 7.5%, plus the inevitable 11% social charge deductions.Incidentally I think the 1991 date may refer to a rule in the French code that exempts old assurance vie policies from declaration on the wealth tax return.I can only agree with the previous commentators who suggest that if you are expecting a significant sum from an endowment you would be well advised to get proper advice!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesLauriers Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 According to PKF, French contracts taken out prior to 1/1/1983 are exempt from social charges and income tax.If what BJSLV states about the change from 1/1/2005 is correct, this now applies to any EU contract.Well worth an e-mail to confirm with the tax people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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