CMU 10 years - now require S1 or RSI due to UK freelance work ?

[existential]

Hi Folks

I and my partner have been permanently resident in France for 13 years and for the last 10 have annually submitted our French tax return as proof of residence and income and our cover has been duly renewed each year with no hitch (paying the 8% cotisations of course).

Suddenly this year CPAM have said that because I have declared some income earned doing freelance work in the UK (which I've declared every year for the last 5 years ...) I now need to get an SI from the UK or to register with the RSI in France as self employed and gain health cover via them.

I presume that this has taken place now (having not been an issue for the last 5 years) as part of the general fiscal tightening.

Has anyone else a similar experience and/or advice ?

Thanks.

[EuroTrash]

Technically CPAM are correct that if you have earned income, ie you are economically active, you shouldn't be on CMU as if you were inactif. CPAM deals with employees, people on an S1 and people who have no other route to healthcare, eg inactifs. Self employed people are outside CPAM's remit.

If you have self-employed income from work carried out whilst you are physically in France (irrespective of who the work is done for) you should be registered to work in France and paying contributions to URSSAF, and you then get your healthcare via RSI.

If you do the work whilst physically in the UK, presumably you pay UK tax and NI contributions on the income, so CPAM are expecting that HMRC will issue you with an S1 on that basis. Which in theory they should, provided that they consider you have sufficient links with the UK to make the UK your competent state for healthcare. I believe there's a minimim number of days in which you have to work in the UK to qualify, depending on how many 'ties' you have to the UK.

If it's only a tiny bit of income and you're only there a few weeks a year, HMRC may refuse and then I guess you would have to take the refusal letter to CPAM and see what they say.

As you say, CPAM seem to be tightening up a lot.