Thanks for your comment Sue.
So my thoughts re Currencyfair not being a bank account concurs with those of your accountant/tax adviser.
It seems that like you I employ a professional person to be the front person when submitting my annual returns which for the few euros that it costs takes out all the stress of ‘what do I do with this, or that’ questions with answers generated that are frankly mostly opinions and not profession advice.
Thank you. It would not, otherwise, have occurred to me to declare PayPal or my XE currency transfer account. Another “piège” avoided!
This is where I am confused about Transferwise, I do not have an IBAN for my account as the money is simply transfered via Transferwise’s account??
Relieved to hear that Sue because this thread was beginning to worry me. I don’t use Transferwise or Paypal and, because they were the only ones named on the declaration, never for once thought that my own chosen method of buying euros, Worldwide, was declarable.
They don’t hold money for me, once the rate is agreed on the phone, I transfer in £1,000 daily instalments (Yorkshire Bank limits) to their account and then on the final day they send the money to our French account immediately.
What does this mean David? Are they “holding” your money for you over several days? If so, this, I think, is where you need to be careful. Is your money being “held” in THEIR a/c or in “YOUR” a/c? If the transaction rate is being agreed at the moment you transfer the money, but then being “held” somewhere before being moved to France you might need to check with them, is that holding a/c “yours” (in which case declare it) or “theirs” in which case don’t.
These days Transferwise (now WISE) offers the option of “borderless accounts” and it’s this that I’ve taken up, which means (as shown in this photo) I’m holding the princely sums of 39.35€ in my euro a/c and £20 in my sterling a/c. If you don’t have anything like that on the opening page of your Transferwise a/c then you are “just” using them as forex agents and you don’t need to declare that.
Pretty sure it is held in their account as I don’t have access to it once it is gone. In the same way I bought my e-trike on an instalment plan over about 10 months because the manufacturer’s computer system could not accept an early settlement by me if my car (the replacement of which the trike was for) was sold in the meantime.
The only reason I don’t pay in one go, I always wait until I have all the money in my declared account, is because my arthritic fingers couldn’t press fast enough the really long number in the silly little keypad that Yorkshire Bank once sent me. 
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Ah, OK, thanks. I signe up for thin in March 2021 along with the payment card so I guess I’ll have to declare it next year onwards.
Just PayPal then…
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Anyone doing this, worth bearing in mind, you need to provide the date you opened the a/c. In the case of my Transferwise borderless a/c I couldn’t remember and as it’s so easy there’s not much paperwork! Fortunately, I tested the a/cs and put small amounts in - which I manged to find and I’ve taken the dates of those transactions as the dates I opened the a/cs. Knowing what I know now, I would have kept a better record.
Me too…
You’d know if you’d opened a borderless account. So you are using Transferwise just as a forex dealer - no IBAN, no need to declare.
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Do you know why this is so important to them? As I said earlier there is no way I can remember when accounts were opened, so I just chose a random date in 1984. One of those accounts was definitely later but I didn’t think it mattered.
No, no idea. But our tax adviser emailed to say she had to have it.
[quote=“Danielle_Robins, post:1, topic:34835”]
*>Any advice / info / clarification greatly welcomed. Thanks in advance,[/quote]
If contacted, do not question and obey. Give them all the info necessary regarding any and all international accounts that you may have. That means the address and the account number. If they want more info, they’ll ask for it.
If you are receiving funds info into a French account, remember that they know where it is coming from. They have free access to all bank-accounts in France and can verify that you have that account -and they can know how much and when you deposited onto the account.
Just don’t fool around with the French tax-authorities. The country is hurting badly for funding because of Covid. French or not French simply does not matter …
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For what it is worth: Everything you need to know about offshore savings accounts
Extract:
Offshore savings accounts allow you to save in different currencies. And, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be hugely wealthy to take advantage of them.
I have absolutely no issue with declaring any accounts, my intention is not do hide anything, I just want to do it correctly. And the accounts I have do not have traditional format account numbers, more of a customer reference number. I will put those in.
I don’t receive funds into a French bank account, I only transfer money to UK to pay NI contributions and have PayPal for the occasional sale of personal goods.
“The downside of NOT declaring could be expensive. Acquaintances of ours were fined 6,000 euros for having missed off (by mistake) one of their UK accounts that they had declared in a previous year.”
I find this VERY alarming - the only other fine I’d read about was for 12 K for 2 undeclared accounts in Guernsay for 3 years - though the income was declared. One comment was that they thought the fine a bit harsh, but perhaps because Guernsey was seen as a tax haven.
If people are going to get fined for missing out the odd account each year that’s a high risk level for those with a lot… I read that the fine could be 3K per account per year - however there’s a limit - 10K a year, so phew. (not)
Any chance of a few more details whilst respecting confidentiality? Did your acquaintances appeal - and why 6K for one? And aren’t you allowed an ‘innocent’ mistake?
Thanks! I’d though some other posters might have asked for more details?
Also I read that some offices accepted previously declared accounts didn’t need to be redeclared?
Contact your local SIP (Service des Impôts des Particuliers).
Ours have always been very helpful and pragmatic.
This year you have to re-enter your accounts on line. And if you are doing paper accounts they need to be redeclared.
Tax offices can be willing to be flexible if they believe it is a geniune mistake. But never bank on this!