Pound Down!

No Paul. Given that the allowance in France is based on a couple (2 parts) as opposed to singularly in the UK, the allowances in France in Euros are beneficial to us as pensioners.

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My Local Gov pension is taxed in UK Graham :roll_eyes:

Glad to hear it.

I was interested because whether my wife & I will be able to retire to France will depend on the situation with healthcare and taxation - I will have the state pension and my employer’s pension as will my wife. It won’t be huge but probably will be enough for both of us to still be paying a small amount of tax in the UK, I’ll have some ISA income as well which won’t be subject to UK tax but will in France

So, while my situation will be different to yours is now and, as I don’t hit retirement age for another 12 years, anything could happen in the interim I am, at least, reassured that if you are under the personal threshold in the UK the French system is not so demanding that you have additional tax to pay there.

[quote=“Peter_Goble, post:38, topic:22151”]
Do you have the option of returning to UK?
We have no intention of returning to the UK or british isles, we moved away for the same reasons as we will not go back. We could not afford a move anyway.
We have all our family here including a french born great grandaughter.
I wrote to pres. Macron who told me to contact my area Prefecture for help,so we have that option.
We will alway make the best of our situation, and will help someone worser.
Our local Marie does not like english, even though there are only just over 200 residents here.

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Well Paul, it certainly works for us.

      There is a website run by the French Tax People where you can check your liability against known factors.

      2018 tax year is not yet available but you could use it for comparison against yout 2017 income.

To be honest if I could I’d move over permanently tomorrow - after all we already have the house :slight_smile:

But No1 son is about to start his GCSE’s so not the best time for that degree of upheaval, plus for various reasons it would mean premature retirement for my wife and I (which, currently, we can’t afford) as neither of our jobs would move (even if we spoke better French). I have qualifications in IT which I could, I suspect, get recognised but have been out of that game for too long for it to be a serious prospect - in any event jobs in IT tend to be a “big city” thing. I could do web design but it’s a very crowded market these days.

So, nose to the grindstone for the foreseeable.

That’s a shame Paul.

      We were both in IT (our own business) but I decided at the age of 56 it was time to realise a new chapter in our lives.

      Clinging to the notion "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" we retired lock stock and barrel to France.

      My Dad retired at 65 and then spent the next 5 or so years with a part time gardening job after which he fell of his perch.

      I've now had 10 years of relative peace and quiet in retirement and don't regret taking the plunge one little bit.
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I’ve been out of IT since 2004 - one place was struggling and made half the developers redundant, after surviving a couple of rounds they eventually got me - the next place the management had no clue and it went down the pan. I got out before the final collapse but without an appetite for more work in software engineering.

I earn a bit more now (inflation adjusted) than I did back then and probably have a Brexit proof job but changing careers mid life rather buggers up the pension - hence having to work 'til retirement. Having a family late in life (not through choice) also tends to keep the bills rolling in.

I’ve been out of IT long enough to have something of an appetite to go back in, and nearly did after a patch out of work but don’t really want a 2nd hit on salary and pension.

Even if I could find work (slim chance) it would probably have to be Rennes or Nantes and one thing I’m totally certain of is the fact that I do not wish to go back to 60 mile commutes.

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I was ‘retired’ at 50 Graham worked out perfectly, I’d just finished building a 45ft yacht, so buzzed off to the Caribb’, worked there as a skipper for a French Charter Co’, eventually sailed back to Europe, Ireland, Spain, Portugal France, worked here and there to ‘stretch’ the wee pension, never the slightest regret, it’s been a wonderful 22yrs :hugs:

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Good on yer skipper! And may your next 22 be just as profitable!

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Thanks Graham,will keep going a fair bit longer, with a ‘wee slip of a girl’ to take care of me :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:

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Paul, I pay no UK tax on my ‘OAP’ (as it is called here in France by the tax authorities) but I pay £2,500 pa on my Teacher’s Pension in UK. I am told here that the OAP is regarded as private income, don’t ask me why. The Teachers’ Pension is styled here as 'Gouvernement"

My net income is added to my wife’s net income from UK, hers is below the tax threshold there.

Our joint income, all of it from pensions (no other sources of income anywhere), is taxed in France.

The upper tax threshold for an elderly couple here is 27, 086 euro, anything above that threshold is taxed at 30%, see [https://www.french-property.com/guides/france/finance-taxation/taxation/calculation-tax-liability/allowances/]

We pay 1,070 euros French income tax per annum, in 10 monthy instalments. We pay similar sums in Taxe Foncière and Taxe d’habitation.

I object to having no vote in the UK, but, having to support the royal family, and, their ‘sprogs’ and ‘clingons’!

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Me too. Worthless bunch of no-marks!

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I think the French OAP is subject to taxation in France (CSG?) but the UK State Pension if in receipt of an S1 is exempt Peter. However, the UK State Pension is subject to assessment for tax alongside your worldwide income. If your TP is above the UK ‘free pay’ threshold, then you will pay UK tax on it and some consideration is given by the French tax authorities on what you have paid (it’s complex!)

our combined income is just over €19.500 so any drop in the gbp - euro exchange rate affects us badly.
I thought that was what we were talking about?

I’m lucky re tax here, having an accountant French Wife to sort out my tax, very satisfactorally!!! I don’t have to pay any here, though, I would happily give what I pay in the UK, to contribute to services I benefit from, here in France :slightly_smiling_face:

Bill’s taxe is really simple. Tried to transfer his taxe to France years ago. After at least 10 phone calls, I finished up phoning in Paris to be told he have to carry on paying his taxe in the UK, that’s that ! Never been further …

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You did try :hugs:

That really is a surprise, from your posts I’d imagined that you lived on much less than that. Some of my near neighbours live on a single OAP and seem content.