The value of the DC pot was already badly affected by the Truss budget, so further taxation in France on top of that wouldn’t surprise me.
I calculated that it would take me 15 years to recover the lump sum payment from the enhanced pension if I had elected to not take the lump sum. If I knew how many years I had left, I would have been better informed as to which option to choose!
Just had a look at the tax office website . I said quatrième when I meant quotient. As far as I can see, the payment of a lump sum from a pension is still regarded as an exceptional payment under the quotient system and can be taxed as if earned over 4 years
Ah well, that’s the trick isn’t it!!
I don’t know about the arrangement with Belgium but state pension and non-government occupational pensions would be taxed in France.
When you move to France, they will tax your UK pensions directly. The UK cannot tax them under the UK/France tax treaty if you are a French resident (assuming they’re company and UK state pensions). Ironically if you’re not suffering UK tax on the company pension, that’s ultimately the right answer when you get to France. I recommend you do FFI forms (as described earlier in this thread) for the two UK pensions when you get to France. They will need to be stamped by your local tax office and then sent to HMRC in the UK. That will formalise the exemption from UK tax, and confirmation that the amounts are taxable only in France.
From -
ii. Four Years - You can request that the lump sum is taxed as an ‘exceptional payment’ under which you can divide the sum by four equal parts, with each quarter part added to your other income for each of the four years. This is called the système de l’étalement. This option ceased available from 1st January 2020 for payments made from this date.
iii. Quota Part - You can similarly request income tax is calculated by adding a quarter of the net taxable lump sum to your other net taxable income and then by multiplying by 4 the tax then due. By this means the lump-sum payment does not push you into a higher tax bracket. This is called the système du quotient.
On the social charges, have you considered just waiting a year before taking the lump sum when you get your S1? Or take a small amount if you need that for the first year, and take the rest as the ‘exceptional payment’ the following year.
I did consider waiting a year until I received my S1 to avoid social charges but the social charges are smaller than the loss of a years pension
Look on the bright side, had you arrived a day later and it being a leap year you would have celebrated your 16th actual birthday this year so still a way to go to draw pension.
Sadly no S1 though as like me working here has scuppered that.
Looking forward to listening to this, Dave
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I missed that by 18 hours.
However, I would have only been 15 as there was no leap day in the year 2000 
Just checked this with @Dave_Lawson - not tax free apparently , , … @KarenLot
Hey! Free - Aviva + SW but maybe a minimum payment required. Pay into a cash/control account (earns interest) in a SIPP) (no charges as money not invested in a fund) - and then (just about to work this out) - transfer a % out again, therefore can open a private pension for no cost and without keeping the minimum required in it eg £10k in SW. No minimum with Aviva though I am with them - so maybe a perk offered to current customers?
@Dave_Lawson + @George1 + @larkswood12
Isn’t this a way around CEHR + tax at 20% if >E500k is exceeded by a couple in just 1 tax year?
Big advantage - can opt out of PHI after 1 year if so - otherwise need to keep PHI running for 2 years.
EDIT - Thanks for subsequent clarification @Carl @KarenLot @larkswood12
Can I ask then - under the Systeme du quotient - can we get a one off lump sum >E500k (6.75% taxed private pension clearout) without CEHR and without the flat rate 20% tax on high incomes?
I know, when I last filled one of these forms for a personal pension cash in, they were in both languages. How do impots feel about signing and stamping a form only in English?
I asked someone at HMRC the same question as I was surprised that the form was not duplicated in French. I was told that the French version exists and did I want one? I have no idea why they don’t send them out routinely. As it was I didn’t need one because my local tax office his use by enough British citizens for them to be familiar with the form and mine was signed without question.
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Fatheads. 
For reasons best known to HMRC, they changed the FFI form from being bilingual to English only in 2020. I would sincerely hope that HMRC cleared this with the International department of the Impôts, and can only presume no objections were raised. For completeness, and by way of comparison,.I’ve just looked at examples of France’s own forms under various of its tax treaties and some of them are only in French also.
I think each local tax office is going to have its own approach, but I would hope that the vast majority will routinely stamp the appropriate forms presented to them under the tax treaty.
Sounds like Brexity nonsense.
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Hello everyone, I hope that this is the correct place to post! I am a British citizen, French resident, paying taxes here since 1999 and hold a carte vitale and a current ten year titre de séjour. I am looking to take my full UK pension pot worth 120,000 pounds. As I will take the lump sum which tax rate will this be? Is it the 7.5% flat rate plus social charges of 10%? Also I assume that I will pay emergency tax in the UK, if so does anyone know which form must be filled in to claim it back for someone in my position?