whats the rule on when I become a French resident

[jim]

My wife and I have a UK home as well as a home in France where we now spend over 6 months each year; 2 months most winters chasing the sun elsewhere, Our only source of income is our UK NHS occupational pensions and UK old age pensions - we don,t let our french home o anyone - should we be in contact with french tax people ?

[Kitty]

Hello Jim.  Here are a few threads that may help you. Some are not quite the same as your question but contain bits about the tax position.

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1432893/ShowPost.aspx

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1346336/ShowPost.aspx

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1217369/ShowPost.aspx

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1032356/ShowPost.aspx

[Bugsy]

Jim, I;ve PM'd you.

[AnOther]

Lots of good info in the threads indicated but on the face of it from what you say I don't think there is much doubt that you would be considered French resident.

[Will]

After three months in France you are considered 'resident'. There are several different ways of becoming deemed as 'fiscally resident' (a different concept) in France; spending more than half the year is one, having your main home there is another. You can meet tax residence qualifications in more than one country, where you pay any particular tax is governed by the double taxation agreement between the countries concerned.

It this does not answer your question it would help if you could explain what sort of 'residence' you wanted to acquire or avoid, and why. Generally, if you are not working, there are certain advantages to being French resident, though if you are 'inactive', under UK state retirement age and became resident after November 2007 there are serious implications for health care. There are also potential pitfalls in terms of inheritance taxes, though these should have been explained to you when you bought your house in France.

[parsnips]

[quote user="jim"]

My wife and I have a UK home as well as a home in France where we now spend over 6 months each year; 2 months most winters chasing the sun elsewhere, Our only source of income is our UK NHS occupational pensions and UK old age pensions - we don,t let our french home o anyone - should we be in contact with french tax people ?

[/quote]

 As others have said , you are french resident and should  inform the UK tax authorities by completing form P85, ( possibly giving 01/01/2009 as your date ,for simplicity) and obtain and complete french forms 2042 and 2047 next spring (you will have to download these ,or go to the tax office this first time only--thereafter they will come automatically) .

     Your UK old age pensions are definitely taxable here, but you will need to confirm with the UK tax people the tax status of your NHS pensions --recently much confusion has been caused by the fact some ex- NHS workers were not paid directly by the UK government and so may also be taxable in France.(In any case you will probably be better off taxed in France--not that you have a choice).

     When the time comes you can get all the help you need to complete your forms on this forum.

 

[bigears]

hi

If its not much more than 6 months I wouldn't bother unless you particularly want to become french resident.

[Cat]

Don't take any notice of posters that tell you "not to bother" about declaring tax in France Jim. 

Not only are they wrong, but one or two of them are self-confessed porkie pie tellers to boot.

[giantpanda]

Hi!

One day you could get a fine, for not declaring Income  in France ( with do not mean you would pay taxes ) .

You may be surprised to lean, that there could be some advantage of being a French resident.

It start with the " the Taxe d'habitation ", the "Redevance Audiovisuelle" if you are over 60, not to speak of help you may require in future years.

Yours,

giantpanda

[jim]

many thanks to everyone - I,m overwhelmed that so many people replied so quickly !

It obviously is a bit more complicated than I thought.

We genuinly arent trying to get away with anything - the 40% tax on my UK Old age pension is recovered in the UK via an adjustment to my tax code and deducted from my NHSoccupational pension ie OAP paid gross and net NHSpension bears the tax.

regards,

Jim

[Sunday Driver]

Jim

Your situation is quite straightforward.  Both your UK old age pension and NHS pension are taxable in France.

Details on the [url=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/uk_gov_pensions.htm]HMRC website[/url]:

National Health Service Pensioners

National Health Service Pensions are not regarded as Government service pensions for the purposes of most Double Taxation Agreements.

If your combined pension income is less than around 19,500€ you should pay little or no French tax.

 

[AnOther]

[quote user="jim"]the 40% tax on my UK Old age pension[/quote] [blink]

[Bugsy]

[quote user="ErnieY"][quote user="jim"]the 40% tax on my UK Old age pension[/quote] [blink]

[/quote]

Thats what I thought Ernie..........................[blink][blink]