You may also be interested in this extract from the Connexion French Tax Return Guide for 2013.
"THIS note applies to foreign rental income and government pensions. Article 6 of the Double Tax Treaty between France and the UK states that UK rental income is assessable in the UK, likewise Article 19 of the same treaty states that "government" income, ie. pensions, are similarly assessable in the UK. Therefore many tax experts conclude that these sources of income cannot be assessed in France and made liable to social contributions. Article 24 of the treaty which deals with the manner in which France applies double tax
relief permits the French to take this income into account in order to boost French tax due on all other legitimately assessable income. However financial adviser Dr Michael Annett of Pelican Consulting said "taking into account" this income does not confer rights of being able to assess it to the social contributions. He said there have also been cases where the appropriate tax credit for French tax has been withheld in
some cases on the grounds that no foreign tax has been paid on these sources of income (due to it being below UK tax thresholds). "This is incorrect according to article 24 of the DTT and the manner in which the tax credit calculation is applied. Also be aware of NOTA in Section III, A.2 on page 2 of the notes to the 2047," he said. There are on-going court cases challenging French tax authorities' application of social charges in this context. Decisions are expected this year. Connexion has also been informed of several cases where readers received a bill for the contributions last year, paid it but then queried it with their local tax office, citing the double tax treaty (convention Franco-Britannique) - and had the money refunded. If you are charged the
social contributions on these sources of income or refused the tax credit for French tax you may wish to seek professional advice.
TO MINIMISE CHANCES OF BEING CHARGED:
A senior tax official agreed that in most cases social contributions should not be payable however he added that on going to press a grey area remained where no UK tax was paid. He said that if you have UK rental income or government pensions you may: Declare it as stated in this guide, then: In 2042, page 2, section E – add a note such as this: revenus de eXXXX de locations en provenence de la Grande-Bretagne/ de pension de retraite de la fonction publique britannique [€XXXX of UK rents/UK government pension - include both or either as appropriate] déclarés 2047, section VI et 2042 8TK, Je pense que ceux-ci ne sont pas assujettis aux impôts français, y compris les prélèvements sociaux – Convention Franco-Britannique, articles 2, 24 et 6 [write in the case of rents] or 2, 24 et 19 [in the case of pensions]."
There is clearly different treatment in different areas. My wife and I are both in receipt of Civil Service pensions and have never been charged social contributions in the 4 years we have been here (Dept 26). I have completed my tax returns in line with the above advice and have never had a problem. But ..................