Hello, apologies if this is covered elsewhere but I was unable to find it.
Over the recent winter season 2018-19 I worked as a seasonnaire for a French registered company. I earned just under €5000 and paid approx. €800 in tax and social contributions. Does anyone know if or how I can reclaim some or all of this? I am a UK not a French resident and I complete a UK self assessment tax return.
Thanks in advance.
Hello Vivien
Presumably you were in France on a temporary basis and live full-time in the UK? If you were working for a French company in France then the deductions from your wages would only have been social contributions as tax would not have been deducted. Tax is dealt with separately. The system is different to that in the UK.
I’m surprised that you paid so little in social contributions as the rate is usually about 22% of everything you earn.
Anyway, I doubt that there is any possibilty of reclaiming these contributions. I expect others will be able to confirm this or otherwise.
Don’t forget to declare the income on your UK self assessment tax return.
Hello Vivien and welcome to the forum.
I’m sure I recall a similar question months and months ago… but I cannot find it now.
Never mind …
Do you have the paperwork (payslips etc) which relate to the money you received and also to your employment??
I’m sure someone will chime in , but it would be useful to know what your papertrail situation actually is.
(I found the thread but it related to a student… sorry.)
How many months were you employed in France ???
As Mandy says. PAYE didn’t operate in France prior to 2109 so you won’t have had any income tax deducted at source.The system was that you declared your income at the end of the year and were sent a bill. But on 5k there would have been no income tax to pay in any case.
Presumably the 800€ was your social contributions. Keep your payslips because if you work in France in the future and end up claiming any pension from France, you might need to prove what you paid into your pension pot during that year Every little helps 
That’s really useful everyone, thank you for taking the time to reply.
I was employed 22 Dec 2018 to 31 March 2019. We were told that automatic PAYE deductions would start from 1st Jan 2019 and that we would be able to reclaim them via the UK (somehow?!) but from what you have all shared it looks like it was social, not tax.
Yes I have the wage slips if anyone wants.
Yes I am a UK resident and that is where my home is
Yes I did declare it on my self assessment
Am planning on coming back to do the same again this year because it was fun and gave me a winter income!