Married women's pension arrears

[allanb]

There's been discussion recently on another thread of the French tax treatment of income earned in one year and received in another.  An interesting example is coming up for any married woman who succeeds in getting the UK old-age pension arrears now payable in some circumstances in return for voluntary back-dated contributions.

If, for instance, your back-dated contributions entitle you to several years' pension arrears, and you receive the net amount (the pension less the contributions) in a single payment during 2008, you will have to decide how to declare it in France.  I don't think there can be any doubt that the gross pension amount is taxable in principle, but is it all taxable in the same year?  More important: if you weren't resident in France for part of the arrears period, is the amount related to your non-resident years taxable in France?  And if you don't declare it in France, should you declare it retroactively in the UK?

I don't know the answers, but I suspect that some people who have previously stated that they don't believe in the accrual principle may now become convinced that it's not such a bad idea.