UK & French tax residency rules are different. If you are a UK or French citizen and are considering or have already moved from one country to go and live, work, study or retire, in the other country, even temporarily, the question of tax residence becomes crucial.
Why is it important to be sure of your tax residence?
Put simply, without establishing your tax residence you cannot be sure whether you are paying the right amount of tax in the right country. But because the rules for determining tax residence differ from country to country it can become complex to correctly determine your tax residence.
To make matters a bit more complicated, it is entirely possible to be a tax resident of more than one country.
If you get your tax residence wrong, you may be paying too much tax in one country. Or you may not be paying enough tax in the country which can be very costly as you may have to pay penalties. It can also mean a lot of time and energy having to put things right if discovered. Countries are now much better at sharing information about taxpayers which means the chances of this kind of error (whether deliberate or not) coming to light are increasing, sometimes years after the event.
As there is a double tax agreement in place between France and the UK this won’t mean that you have to pay tax twice, but it can be tricky to work out the correct way to declare and pay taxes due in each country.
If you have any doubt about your tax residence in the UK or France and would like some advice or help with UK or French tax residency rules, please get in touch.