The performance of the UK government’s Brexit negotiators, Theresa May included, is giving rise to concerns amongst UK businesses, EU nationals living in UK and, of course, us living and working in the EU. Sterling continues to react daily to the actions and reactions on both sides of the negotiating table, and the general uncertainty that this causes conveys itself to people’s decision-making.
Over the last 15 months or so, I have been approached by a number of prospective new clients, most of whom are asking the same questions: “How will Brexit affect our plans to move to France” and “How will Brexit impact our desire to remain in France”. The honest answer to this (at the time of writing), is no-one yet knows and until something concrete comes out of the negotiations, this will remain the situation. My own belief is that some compromise will be cobbled together to allow some continued freedom of movement in exchange for access to the single market.
What we do know is that if you have aspirations to live in France, you will become resident for tax here and there is nothing more certain than taxes (apart from death of course). As a French tax resident, there are a number of different taxes you will become subject to. This is no different to the position in UK, indeed comparisons undertaken on behalf of a number of prospective ‘movers’ to France has shown only minor differences in tax payable for those people. The proviso used though was that those people put their financial house in order before moving to, and becoming resident in, France.
My Limoux colleague, Sue Regan in her last article, pointed out the pitfalls in assuming UK-based investments would serve the same purpose in France, and that the tax treatment of those investments in UK would transfer across the Channel to France. This is not the case, in fact holding and maintaining UK investments can and do result in nasty tax shocks for those ex-pats who wrongly believe investments like ISAs would be tax exempt in France.
Also, with the introduction of Common Reporting Standards, financial information is being shared across borders, so considering oneself to be hidden from the tax-man in France, whilst holding bank accounts and investments in UK, is delusory. If you have recently received a letter from your UK bank asking you to confirm your address, this is Common Reporting Standards in action; your bank will pass the information on to HMRC who in turn will share it with their French counterparts.
It is better to acknowledge that the ways of the past will not continue to hold true and that work needs to be done if you want to live in France and this includes re-structuring assets to make them French tax-efficient. The simplest way to approach this is to invite an independent financial adviser to carry out a financial review of your circumstances. He or she will put together a report of recommendations, to ensure your move to France will not result in tax shocks further down the line. All you have to do then, of course, is act on the recommendations.
If you feel you could be affected by this, or have personal or financial circumstances that you feel may benefit from a financial planning review, please contact me direct on the number below. You can also contact me by email at derek.winsland@spectrum-ifa.com or call our office in Limoux to make an appointment. Alternatively, I conduct a drop-in clinic most Fridays (holidays excepting), when you can pop in to speak to me. Our office telephone number is 04 68 31 14 10.
I look forward to seeing you soon.