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Living in France off interest accrued in UK


French Frank

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If you are (become) resident in France you'll have to declare the interest on your French tax return come what may. As a resident you are subject to the French tax laws and so it is irrelevant as to whether the interest is a consequence of a UK or French bank account.
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If you're resident in France (at its simplest, if you spend more than six months in a calendar year in France), you should be registered for, and pay, French income tax and social contributions on all your (worldwide) income.That includes interest received in UK or anywhere else.

However, you should be able to get the interest paid gross in UK, so it's only taxed once.

The good news is that (certainly in our case, married with pension income) tax rates are lower - our top marginal income tax rate is only 14%, and there are no socialist charges on pension income received, although interest and dividends do get hit with an additional 12% of these charges.

If you're not resident, it doesn't matter what you do with your money - but bear in mind that residence is not optional - it's determined by where you spend your time (plus sometimes other factors as well).

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Hi,

     If your only income is say 10 K £ ( 11K €) then (if you declare as a french resident), you will pay no income tax (even as a single person), and only 12.1% social charges . Once you arrange to have the interest paid gross in the UK (this may take some time --but will be back-dated) you will be better off by 20%-12.1%.

By the way--where is Ron?

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  • 1 month later...
Similar to in UK in France you have personal allowances before being libel to tax. The amount will very depending on personal circumstances, for instance in France both husband and wife are entitled to an allowance even if there is only one wage earner, plus you also get an allowance for children.

Parsnips will probably be able to give you the numbers but in the meantime try Googling      French income tax allowances

Be careful about 'managing' your income to stay below tax thresholds as it could take you below the level required to be legally resident. Also if you are seen to be living beyond your declared income difficult questions could be asked.

In any case, because you have to declare any UK bank accounts when you do your tax return, and the French tax authorities DO talk to UK, there is no hiding place for your UK interest.

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[quote user="French Frank"]Thanks Parsnips, you say that there is a threshold below which I would'nt pay tax, do you know exactly how much/[/quote]

Hi,

      On 2008 income the tax-free  limit was 11 726€ (single person) and 17 659 (couple) , with quite low tax up to 15540€ (single) and 24926(couple).

     You would be charged 12.1% social charge on the full amount of the interest.

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  • 3 weeks later...
"On 2008 income the tax-free limit was 11 726€ (single person) and 17 659 (couple) , with quite low tax up to 15540€ (single) and 24926(couple).

You would be charged 12.1% social charge on the full amount of the interest."

I thought the tax free amount (per part) is

around 5800 euros. Where does the 11726 come from for a single person and 17659 for a couple?

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