Living in France, where do I pay my Tax

marksmith2009

Hi I am currently living in France, although I am in UK several times a year and have a property in UK. My business is registered in UK and I pay Tax in UK. I thought that was fine to spend more time in an EU country just as long as I was tax Payer in one EU country. Now someone has told me as I spend more time in France I should register and Pay income tax in France. I pay all my local Taxes in France.

Anyone any ideas what is right

fengirl_2

Need more info in order to help. You pay tax in the country in which you are resident, so we would need to know when you first went to live in France and how many days a year you have been in the Uk since then.

Cook_County

You may be resident in both countries under domestic rules. The double tax treaty may provide some relief.

jago25_98

Your property in the UK makes it look like you're still in the UK, even if you spend just a few days in the UK.

Double tax relief is best route; claim back the French tax you pay.

I've just got £200 back from Norway after 2 years though, so it's a pain in the proverbial. Hopefully France is better. I hear they enjoy using beaurcracy to prevent claims even more than the UK - good luck :mad:

Interpretation of Gaines-Cooper decision

The published decision of the Special Commissioners in Robert Gaines-Cooper v HMRC
(SpC 568, 31 October 2006) attracted some attention from tax practitioners and their clients.
In particular, some commentators suggested that the decision meant that HMRC had
changed the way it calculates the ‘91-day test’. This is incorrect.
The ‘91-day test’ is set out in Chapters 2 (Leaving the UK) & 3 (Coming to the UK) of this
guidance. The text makes it clear that the ‘91-day test’ applies only to individuals who have
either:

• left the UK and live elsewhere, or

• who visit the UK on a regular basis.
Where an individual has lived in the UK, the question of whether he has left the UK has to be
decided first. Individuals who have left the UK will continue to be regarded as UK-resident if
their visits to the UK average 91 days or more a tax year, taken over a maximum of up to 4
tax years. HMRC’s normal practice, as set out in this guidance, is to disregard days of arrival
and departure in calculating days under the ’91-day test’.
In considering the issues of residence, ordinary residence and domicile in the Gaines-Cooper
case, the Commissioners needed to build up a full picture of Mr Gaines-Cooper’s life. A very
important element of the picture was the pattern of his presence in the UK compared to the
pattern of his presence overseas. The Commissioners decided that, in looking at these
patterns, it would be misleading to wholly disregard days of arrival and departure. They used
Mr Gaines-Cooper’s patterns of presence in the UK as part of the evidence of his lifestyle and
habits during the years in question. Based on this, and a wide range of other evidence, the
Commissioners found that he had been continuously resident in the UK. The ’91-day test’ was
therefore not relevant to the Gaines-Cooper case, since Mr Gaines-Cooper did not leave the
UK.
There was no change to HMRC practice about residence and the ‘91-day test’, either in
relation to the Gaines-Cooper case or as a result of it. HMRC will continue to:

• follow its published guidance on residence issues, and apply this guidance fairly and
consistently;

• treat an individual who has not left the UK as remaining resident here;

• consider all the relevant evidence, including the pattern of presence in the UK and
elsewhere, in deciding whether or not an individual has left the UK;

• apply the ‘91-day test’ (where HMRC is satisfied that an individual has actually left the
UK) as outlined in this guidance, normally disregarding days of arrival and departure
in calculating days under this ‘test’.

This guidance does not apply from 6 April 2009. The guidance it contains is replaced by the
guidance provided in HMRC6 – Residence, Domicile and the Remittance Basis. It is kept

available for those

jago25_98

Incidently,
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/tax/tax-exempt_and_taxable_income.htm#isexemptfrom
says income from outside the UK is exempt...

but I'm not sure that's right.
I thought you have to do more than 180 days in a year non-UK to have it count.

I work a lot outside the UK but I never get any tax back because I never do enough days in a year - bummer. Basically the way it's rounded like this means I pay tax wherever I go on the globe.

Cook_County

If this a UK company it might also be dual resident. Generally France looks at domicile equating to customary residency to determine its tax base and France would then give credit for UK tax.

If this is a company it is highly complex and will need advice on both sets of corporate filings, VAT etc.