There is a basic problem with what you are telling us - and whatever you say you were told “some years ago, when we took up residency”.
Your situation has changed following Brexit, so forget the past. You must decide where you are ‘fiscally resident’. That is to say, where do you permanently live; and declare and pay your taxes. It does not matter where the income is derived from. Following Brexit the reciprocal arrangements between France and the UK remain in place - you can only be taxed once, according to the regulations in force in your chosen country of residence.
It appears that you have chosen to live permanently in France. It would therefore seem that the danger that you are now in arises from the Brexit consequence that you can only live in your French home for a maximum of 6 months in a year - unless you opt for permanent fiscal residence, and obtain a Carte de Sejour (residency card).
In passing, your concept of the reciprocal agreement is also wrong. As you are making a French Tax return the Impot may claim further tax from you, if the rate applicable in France is higher than the equivalent in UK.
You raise a good point Michale. I hadn’t occurred to me that there could be a potential conflict between the 183 day rule and maximum stay of six months. That plus the increasingly loose definition of, or should I say the more acquisitive approach to, tax residence in the UK.
Although living somewhere for more than 6 months is a starting point for residency, it isn’t the whole of it. Both the UK and France see 183 days as meaning that you BECOME fiscally resident BUT the UK rules on leaving its shores say that, even if you are hardly ever there, you are still fiscally resident if, within the previous 3 years, you satisfy a certain number of additional tests (number of tests depends on how many days you are in the UK). The only way to ensure that you are not considered fiscally resident in the UK is to not be there at all for over a year or not have a house plus several other things. It is not straightforward.
However, I do agree that where your income arises is not relevant…
but may be in the rich mix of things 
The only place I’ve seen income source mentioned in France as an indicator of something was a document saying something along the lines of getting citzenship being doubtful if all your income came from foreign sources, but that was a long while back and I could have got it wrong!
I thought there was something in the issue of where your main source of financial interest was derived - or something like that.
@John_Scully has it… your centre of economic interest was the expression I was looking for.
Yes I remember something like that but everything I’ve read in recent years seems to say it doesn’t apply. Could explain why some tax offices are happy about people being fiscally resident in the UK while living in France full-time though…
Yes, Angela, but that would all be subject to the conditions of the dual taxation agreement with France. I’ve no idea what the UK tax residency rules are now (other than they do not apply to the super rich 
) but about ten years ago they changed and it suddenly became important to record every day spent in the UK. So, my colleagues and I. who flew in and out, did so. I’ve no idea of the clip levels or other details because we just gave KPMG, who were our tax people, the details and they sorted it all out. Tax was paid where necessary and salaries appropriately grossed up
The conditions for being tax resident in France are that you have spent over 182 days here in one tax year, and/or your centre of economic interest is here and/or your main residence is here. All three could be debated by those with a home and income/investments/property elsewhere in the EU. However maybe now the 182 day rule will be under more scrutiny, one way or the other, for those splitting their time between here and the UK. It’s worth noting.
Why is that exactly?
One one hand you are right, as I have no vote here…”no taxation without representation” and so on. But I also prefer a to live with some form of clarity about rights and responsibilities, and in a system that’s sort of fair (only sort of given people like Sarkozy and Cameron of course).
I try to minimise my taxes, and have been happy to have various repayments and abatements. Had I not paid taxes that would make me uncomfortable. I live here, I use various state funded services even if not hugely keen about money going to defence, so I feel it right to contribute.
i didn’t enjoy my small experience of living in a country that operated through grace & favour, corruption and harassment…
You are not alone @judith1908 ! I’m also resident in France and employed by a UK based company
I pay tax & NI in the UK in the same manner as when I was when I was UK resident
I (my accountant) completes and submits a french tax return and (because of the double taxation treaty you referred to) I receive an annual french tax demand for NIL euros
It may be important to confirm for other members of this forum that my sole income is my salary, I have no interest bearing savings, or investments that yield income or capital gains (ie I dont have property in the UK rented out, or otherwise. My sole asset is my home in france)
The only issues (that I am aware of) for expats in the same financial situation as me are:
- when I retire, if I take a ‘UK tax free’ lump sum from my pension pot I, will have to pay french income tax on it (so its not actually a ‘tax free’ lump sum to me)
- I pay full NI contributions in the UK, however ‘social security’ is not considered taxation and therefore not covered by the double taxation treaty, so I have to pay for private health insurance. (I could pay french cotisations directly into the french social security system, to build up both a french state pension entitlement as well as receive the basic state health cover, but when we looked into that option we felt it was not affordable, hence choosing the private health insurance cover)
That all makes sense Paul. Under the DTA you pay no tax here because the tax you pay in the UK exceeds what you would pay here. However, I wonder why the UK has a claim on the tax in the first place, since you are tax resident in France?
Also, some years ago when I was based in Ireland one of the employees in my division unilaterally decamped to France with his French wife. The first I knew of it was when the HR director dropped into me and told me about it. The guy was a very good guy, his manager was happy with him working remotely and, of course, France is a nice place to be so I was sympathetic. I’ve no idea how HR had found out what he’d done but they’d contacted our tax people, KPMG (who know their stuff), and they informed us that I couldn’t have someone tax resident in France on my payroll as he was liable to French tax and social welfare charges. The choice was for me to transfer him to our French company (and cross charge for his services) or bring him home. I gave him those options and he decided to return to Ireland. I was disappointed we couldn’t accommodate him.
With the increase in remote working due to Covid and with the expectation that at least part of the shift will endure this tax/social security issue is becoming more relevant. If you can work remotely for a London firm in Basingstoke, why not in Barcelona or Berlin? So do you know how your UK employer manages to keep someone tax resident in France on a UK payroll?
I hope this done’t come across as an inquisition and if you feel it is confidential I won’t be offended, but I am interested in how it’s working (and slightly guilty that I (KPMG) may not have given my employee all the options).
Hi Paul,
How interesting - I’m the same as UK France resident UK employed, first tax return. At the moment I’m trying to identify how to calculate the UK employment income with regards to my pension contributions.
How does your accountant treat this, if you don’t mind me asking? I know the UK NI is deducted and the UK tax, but as you may know UK pensions, both employer and personal, are not compulsory. Pretty sure I will be able to deduct the employer pension but unsure of my personal pension contributions (which is very large for reasons I’ll explain below).
In return, the answer to your questions are
- Yes, and you have a rate of 7.5% (after an unlimited deduction of 10% of the pension lump sum - you must take it all in one go. Very tax efficient (which is why I’m stuffing my UK pension pot - my house fund!)
- You can get an S1 if you are a cross border worker, i.e. commute to the UK e.g. weekly. That then affiliates you to the France health system. BUT if you do the work in France, you pay France tax on your UK income - and I understand there isn’t a choice in this. Obviously it doesn’t seem to have been enforced for yourself? Of course commuting requirement is suspended at the mo.
I started a thread on cross border working and tax - maybe you might be able to add? And there’s already threads on the healthcare bit.
Many thanks, Dave.
That would have been my understanding Dave.
I became an “auto-entrepreneur” when I moved to France 13 years ago to avoid this situation, I was never told there was a possibility to keep my tax affairs in the UK? I got advice from the local chamber of commerce at the time and we went through all the options. It was a flat tax of 25% on all earnings up to a cap of I don’t remember how much. I paid myself from my UK company as a freelancer in France to make sure my social security, etc. was definitely in France. I’ve been properly salaried with a French company for years now, and I’m very glad that’s the case. With Brexit, being a properly documented long-term tax paying resident is invaluable.
And yes, you get paid less in France because social charges on the company are very high. But then most French families pay little or no personal income tax. It’s a different system, but I reckon it more or less balances out. I am not paid as much as UK counterparts, but I’m willing to bet there’s little difference in disposable income once everything’s accounted for.
it is a really complicated business as the French have no allowances for remote working, there are a few ways to go about it - this article is excellent.
That article misses an important point for people with their own company. It’s entirely possible to register a UK company as an employer in France, you don’t have to wind up your UK company. We used an accountancy firm in Paris to do it, it was simple and not even expensive. They register the UK company so it has a SIRET, register with URSSAF, etc. and then it can perfectly legally employ people in the French social security regime. The only issue is the need for a bank account that supports SEPA for prélèvement à la source. As far as I’m aware this is unaffected by Brexit, it’s a standard process for any third country company employing people in France. Dispute resolution could be tricky if you have other French staff, but if you’re self-employed via a UK limited company this isn’t going to concern you. You can register and pay yourself as a French employee in France with your UK company.
This is a great discussion - many informed and interesting posts on the tax etc situation of residents in France with UK earnings.
However, I fear @judith1908 might have given up on it, since her actual question was not about this, but whether she can receive state aides and allowances.
Fair point, I came to this rather late! I would simply declare it (as she DOES do a French declaration) and see. Worst that can happen is they ignore it. She might get a cheque though. Who knows? Doesn’t hurt to put it on the form! 
They kind of do cover it here;
What if it is my own company?
If you are working for your own company, the decision is between registering the company in France or leaving the company as it is and employing yourself as a French resident.
The decision whether or not you need to create an establishment (branch or subsidiary of your UK company) in France or, whether indeed your company becomes an entirely French business, is down to where the effective control of the company lies. In circumstances where you have premises, employees, and other directors in the UK and most of your work is carried out there, nothing may change. However, this is an area where you should consult the tax authorities and take professional advice.
You might find yourself in the position of being an employee of the company for the work you do in France whilst you are still a Director and thus able to take a director’s dividend/salary for that role in the UK (which would be subject to UK tax and which also needs to be declared in France).
Saying to seek professional advice - which is obviously what you did with your accountants. it is really important to discuss, I speak to so many people who are just carrying on with their UK companies but working from home here without putting the correct actions in place and they have no idea that it is not ok to do it like that!