Hi Y'all,
I am want to live in France on a semi-permanent basis (i.e. with frequent trips back to Blighty or elsewhere) and have been slightly spooked (on reading the discussion forums on here) by the seemingly endless forms and hassle with any sort of income from say owning a b and b or suchlike. If I do not earn a single sou on French soil and am only on a retired sort of basis am I going to get this sort of hassle at all?
Any advice would be much appreciated and many thanks to all those of you who contribute to this very, very useful web site.
Thanks chaps...very much appreciated advice.
Basically, it is up to you to prove that you are not a resident for the purposes of taxation under French law, so your best bet is to go to your local French tax office when you are living in France and discuss it with them. If you have property in your name in France, you will be paying local taxes anyway (water/waste disposal tax, land tax, housing tax, etc), so you will be on their system and it will be only a matter of time before they come knocking at your door.
You need to able to justify your duration of residency, be it in the UK or France - I don't know how awkward HMRC is about this, but the French taxman will require precise dates, travel tickets, receipts, etc - basically the whole shebang, if ever it decides to take an interest in you. I am assuming that HMRC would be the same though, especially in today's climate.
Many thanks Helen, but if I was only coming and going (albeit on a fairly lengthy basis) presumably I would not need/require French residency?
If you are classed as a French resident you have to declare any money recieved worldwide on your declaration des revenus every summer - even if you have been taxed abroad you have to declare it but won't be double taxed be in rental income from the uk, pensions,etc