ID checks and tax on gains

Hello does anyone know 1) if the Mayor can do ID checks or is it the notaire? I need it for selling a building plot in the UK which has an offer on it at last! Also if anyone knows 2) how gains from building plots are taxed here or how I find out I would appreciate the assistance. Its a redundant barn on a plot ( land separated off a long time ago), the barn was to be converted but PP now allows it to be demolished.
thanks as ever
Claire

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I think that a mairie can do it, but for legal things I have always asked my notaire.

Property in England is subject to capital gains tax in England, and you have to declare and pay it within 30 days of the sale.

When I gave away my share of my mum’s house I paid less CGT than my sisters, so there are some reductions for non-residents. And then I didn’t even have to declare it in France…

Thank you!!

We got two opinions on this from two Anglo-french accountants.

The first said that the double taxation treaties in place dictate that the capital gains from property sales should be taxed in the country in which the tax is higher and should be declared. Between France and the UK, this depends on how long you have owned the house. It should be in the UK to begin with then in France.

The second said, “don’t say, don’t tell…”

I declared in the UK, paid a modest tax, tried to declare this in France and was told they weren’t interested!

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Hi Tim, the second one should be reported to whichever professional body they belong for giving unlawful advice, the first is incorrect. Property situated in the UK is subject to UK capital gains tax and should be reported as Jane says above if the seller is non-resident in the UK. The link that Jane provided gives a clear explanation of the rules and how to report the gain. It should then be reported in France in the manner prescribed by French tax law and double tax relief claimed for any tax paid in the UK.
That’s the easy bit - the difficult bit is doing the calculations to work out what the gain is in each country, not necessarily the same amount!
Izzy x

Our mairie has verified lots of our documents including birth and marriage ceritificate, copies of passports and annual forms from pension providers wanting to know if I’m still alive. They also verified all the copies we used for our original EU citizen carte de sejour applications.

It’s a free and very convenient facility, but I don’t know if it only works in small(ish) communes - ours is about 4,500 inhabitants.

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That would be a great outcome l!

Excellent. Ours is even smaller! I will ask, thank you

Thank you

pls tell me more …I started a discussion which you kindly approached lol…still ongoing
what was your scenario?
thx

That’s exactly what happened to me! It’s not what the rules say so I have kept copies of the emails where the tax office said they weren’t interested, just in case it came back to bite me.

Hello @Pat99 - I rememberthat discussion :smiley: There is no question about paying the CGT within 30 days in the UK but the question as to what happens in France is entirely up to your local tax office. I was staggered when they weren’t interested in the sale of my house because there was nothing I could do about that at the time - I had to accept their decision

wow ok…did you include the cgt amount on your french tax return? just want to understand who wasnt interested lol…

also can you share the email you used to write to them ? not the actual emails lol…just the address lol
thx

@Pat99

There is a French Government website… where you can post all sorts of question…

https://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail/

Exactly our scenario too. It was pre-pandemic so I popped in to tax office with all the papers and once they checked I had done what was necessary in the UK and had the document from HMRC they were not interested at all! And told me not to even bother adding it to next tax return. So I didn’t.

Generally approach your local tax office.

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@Pat99
I can see (and I agree) that the experiences of @AngelaR and @JaneJones might well be interesting…

But everything regarding funds received and taxes paid… has tightened up in recent months.

This year’s Declaration to the Tax Office of one’s world-wide income (of whatever sort) and financial situation (savings/investments/bank accounts etc) during 2020, is the benchmark for future years.

This is because there has been (and still is) so much fraud/tax avoidance/money-laundering across the world at large… the sums are enormous…

What made sense previously (between the Tax Office and the ordinary person) on the odd occasion, to save time/paper etc … (eg the amounts for both countries cancelled each other out) no longer applies…

Every last farthing has to be noted… it goes into the computers… and the Tax folk will decide the outcome.

@Pat99 - @Stella is absolutely right of course- they are tightening up like nobody’s business and really your only way forward is to talk to them! The official site quoted above allows you to book a rendez-vous with your local tax office and they will point you in the right direction.

Hi Sunbeam…thx for sending the link …very useful…I found this under the cgt section …

“Under most international tax treaties concluded by France, capital gains on the sale of property are taxable, by virtue of an exclusive right or not, in the country where the property is situated. Where no such treaty exists, capital gains realised by a resident of France on the sale of property in another country are taxable in France”
Interesting…any thoughts ?
Thx