What assets should be included in wealth tax?

[David]

Having received a small inheritance, I am checking my assets to ensure that I do not qualify for wealth tax.

In this respect I wonder if the value of UK private pension schemes should be taken into account.  That is, when I was self employed I paid into my own pension funds out of tax paid money, and I received UK tax relief on the payments.

These funds are not yet mature, and sit waiting for my 65th birthday, when I am told that I will have to buy an annuity, at which time I will discover exactly what they are worth.  Probably less than I paid in when I bought them, considering the present stock market rates!!

I also wonder if dormant tessas, peps and isas have to be included.  I am not financially literate, so I am not sure what the difference is between tessas, peps, isas and pension funds.  To me they are all the same - funds for my retirement.

Many thanks,

David

p.s.  I wonder how you would value a maison secondaire for wealth tax purposes?

[Clair]

Details on ISF (Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune):

http://www.impots.gouv.fr/portal/dgi/public/particuliers.impot

[David]

Many thanks for the link Clair, but having looked at it I am afraid that my French is not up to the task of understanding it.

I would be grateful for some advice in English.  Very poor show, not understanding formal French I know, but I am trying, and studying, but not ready yet.

Thanks,

David

[Tony F Dordogne]

I would strongly urge you to speak to an English-speaking French qualified accountant.

[leslieneils]

As a general guide you would probably find the following link useful, as it is in English:

 

http://www.french-property.com/guides/france/finance-taxation/taxation/wealth-tax/

[freddy]

If you think you may be hit by this you need to talk to an accountant who is a specialist on the UK/France angle.

I did some research on this because it may impact me in the future - I came away pretty confused and without  a clear answer.

The major points that were relevant to me which may or may not be to you were.

You get 30 % discount on your primary residence before it is counted.

Any antiques are not counted.

The pension pots stuff is complicated and very unclear - I tried to understand the ins and outs but gave up. Some of the relevant factors seems to be.

- Was the pension pot built up during your professional career

- Was it built up from just your own contibutions or did your employer also contribute as well. (better if they did)

- Just because you have bought an annuity does not automatically mean that the value of the annuity fund is removed from your estate - there are also some age related issues about when you buy the annuity but thats about social charges and income tax.

- The 'new' tax treaty gives 5 years of no wealth tax to Brits but is not ratified and there is no confirmed date - it may be as late as 2012 - if it is ratified I have no idea if it will effect people already here.

As I said take this info as a starting point only and get proper advice - a purely french accountant may well give you incorrect info as the idea of private pensions etc. is uncommon and different in France.

[David]

Many thanks for your helpful replies.

I take your point Tony about seeing a qualified accountant.  I certainly will if I am anywhere near that bracket, but I was hoping to get some idea of whether I might be affected before laying out a four figure sum for advice.  I have been down that road before with one of the large London accountants; they charged a fortune, I didn't really understand the advice, and I came away with the distinct impression that they wanted to change all my investments and pocket the commission.  I may of course be wrong.

Thank you leslieneils, I found the link useful, and thank you also Freddie for taking the time to write your post, I found it very helpful indeed.

I am now in a position to do some rough calculations and see where I come, the 30% discount on the primary residence was particularly important.

Thanks again,

David