I have an S1 so why is my bank not lowering social charges?
You should obtain a refund if too much has been paid
I have a UK state pension plus an S1 form to cover health costs. Why does my bank take off full social charges on interest even though I told them I should pay 7.5%?
The default rule for interest is that banks deduct 12.8% income tax ‘at-source’ – prélèvement forfaitaire unique (PFU) or ‘flat tax’ – plus 18.6% in social charges.
PFU is only definitive if you do not opt in your declaration for the year for the application of the ordinary income tax bands on all your investment income instead.
If your income is below certain ‘modest’ thresholds you can ask your bank not to take off the income tax element at-source.
If you qualify for low social charges because you have a UK or EU S1 form, you can also ask your bank not to take full charges off. In this case, you only pay 7.5% of prélèvement de solidarité, not the rest that consists of CSG and CRDS.
Officially, this should be done by giving your bank a sworn statement – déclaration sur l’honneur – signed and dated, that you qualify. An official decree states that this should be done every three years.
It could be that your bank has been levying the charges in full because you did not make your request in this formal way.
You could use wording such as:
Je soussigné/e [name] demeurant [address] demande à être dispensé/e du prélèvement de la CSG et de la CRDS. J’atteste sur l’honneur que je relève du système de sécurité britannique et je ne suis pas à la charge d’un régime obligatoire de sécurité sociale française.
Voir Faq Brexit pour les particuliers: https://impots.gouv.fr/brexit-precisions-sur-la-periode-de-transition.
Je relève depuis [date from which you started being covered by the UK system] dans le Royaume-Uni de la caisse de protection sociale de la Department for Work and Pensions en qualité de titulaire d’une pension de retraite. J’atteste être en possession du formulaire S1.
Fait à [where you sign the declaration] le [date].
When you declare your income, you should select box 8SH to confirm you are attached to the UK system, and not a burden on France.
You should obtain a refund if too much has been paid. If not, contact your tax office – for example, by messaging in your account at impots.gouv.fr.