reader experiences
‘I challenged my incorrect French pension taxes – here’s how I did it’
Key documents can help secure a swift tax correction
Published
Modified
A retired UK policeman has told how he successfully challenged French tax on his UK police pension.
Mick Dodd, from Pyrénées-Orientales, said he queried the issue with the tax office after he and his wife received a tax bill of over €1,700 on their police pensions, which should not be taxed in France.
In five years of living in France, it was the first time they had been asked to pay tax.
The double tax treaty
As a reminder, according to the UK-France double tax treaty, article 19, UK government service pensions, which include police and teachers’ pensions, are taxable only in the UK for British retirees in France. However, they can be taken into account in assessing a person’s overall income tax bands on other income.
In this case, the couple’s only other income was Airbnb rental income, taxed on an ongoing basis under the simple fixed versement libératoire system for micro-entrepreneurs.
Mr Dodd said they used online messaging to query the request, including the wording “Comme vous le savez sans doute, en vertu de l’article 19 de la convention franco-britannique sur la double imposition, nous avons été facturés à tort, et nous demandons une correction” (As you no doubt know, due to article 19 of the Franco-British double tax convention we have been billed incorrectly and we are asking for this to be corrected).
They asked that the decision be reversed and to receive an updated avis d’imposition showing €0.
Documentary evidence
He said they were asked to supply their P60s – an annual UK tax certificate showing gross pension paid and UK income tax deducted – as well as proof of the police pensions. They provided their end-of-service statements showing their monthly payments and lump sum. These are issued upon retirement from the police.
“I heard back from them the next day confirming they would do this, and about two weeks later our avis d’impôt was revised to a zero balance request.”
A retired UK teacher reports that the introduction of multi-factor authentification has resulted in him being unable to sign in to the teacherspensions.co.uk website. He said the service reports being unable to send security texts to French mobile numbers; he was also not able to install its app as an alternative. The service did not respond to requests from The Connexion to clarify these points. We note that the site carries wording saying there will be a change of administrator from November 1. If problems persist for teachers in France, let us know at feedback@connexionfrance.com.
