French / Swiss Bank Accounts

R.B.

Hi everyone

I am an offshore Electrician working the rigs in Russia. I work month on / month off and currently live in Scotland (where I was born).
I am about to be promoted to a job still on the rigs for £65,000 p.a. This will be paid from my companies American office to a bank account of my choosing.

My partner and I have been thing of moving to the south of France for a few years and I am hearing stories of France being a 'Tax Free Country for Expats' my understanding of this being that if I keep my British Passport, live in France, get paid from an American office, I pay no tax either to Britain of France.

Does anyone have any info on this??

Cheers
RB
:beer:

tradetime

At the risk of dashing your hopes of the tax free lifestyle, I'd say that's an absolute fairytale.......at least legally......but I could be wrong.
There is possibly a variation that someone single might use, (I say single because they are more likely to have no ties / commitments) That is during the course of the year you spend 3 of the 6 off month somewhere other than the UK. Thus you are not in the UK for more than 90 days in a tax year and are classed as non-resident for tax purposes., though I am not sure how that works if your partner is married to you.

R.B.

So, does anyone know how it would work moving to France and working out of France. Also, I am not married.

martyn4764

If you live in France, ALL of your income is subject to French tax regardless of where it comes from.

God knows where you heard France is a tax haven, but it's absolutely untrue.

poppyoscar_3

^^^^^^^ditto

I have just come back after 8 yrs living there.

we had to declare everything - even interest on little savings accounts in the uk - even down to the rate of exchange that the hotel des impôts told us to use!!!

what about dubai or somewhere like that?

PO xx

Jonbvn

Firstly, you have to ensure that youy become non-resident for tax-purposes in the UK. Basically, you are allowed 90 days (on average) per tax year in the UK.

The French guys I work with have advised me that the situation in France is similar to the UK except that the maximum number of days allowed in country is 180 (equivalent to 6 months). Therefore, since you will be working 28/28 in Russia (Sakhalin?) you should not pay any income tax in France.

Basically, your moving from the UK to France is an excellent decision for tax reasons (and probably lifestyle!).

poppyoscar_3

I believe if this is the case you would have to make sure your house was a 'maison secondaire' and then you would need a permanent address elsewhere.

oil rig in russia? not sure if that would count.

if france is your principal residence, regardless of how many days you are there, I think you will pay tax.

could be wrong, but somebody will be along who knows better than me!

PO xx

Jonbvn

poppyoscar wrote: »

^^^^^^^ditto

I have just come back after 8 yrs living there.

As an expat, the OP will be non-resident for tax purposes in France. Therefore he will not have to pay income tax.

Jonbvn

poppyoscar wrote: »

I believe if this is the case you would have to make sure your house was a 'maison secondaire' and then you would need a permanent address elsewhere.

oil rig in russia? not sure if that would count.

You give the co. address in Russia! That is what the French staff do in my place.

Cook_County

I have seen many misleading statements over the years. This is one of those fantasies.

To break residence in the UK these days you MUST settle somewhere else (it might be France). If and only if you settle somewhere else you can come back fo up to 90 days a year.

From a French perspective you would be domiciled & taxable in France if you settled there (using the French definition of domicile).

You could pick somewhere else such as Russia with it's 13% tax rate if you want to settle somewhere with lower tax.

Jonbvn

Cook_County wrote: »

I have seen many misleading statements over the years. This is one of those fantasies.

To break residence in the UK these days you MUST settle somewhere else (it might be France). If and only if you settle somewhere else you can come back fo up to 90 days a year.

I did not want to list the full requirements, but this from HMRC website:

"If you leave the UK to work full-time abroad under a contract of employment, you are treated as not resident and not ordinarily resident if you meet all the following conditions

• your absence from the UK and your employment abroad both last for at
least a whole tax year
• during your absence any visits you make to the UK

- total less than 183 days in any tax year, and average less than 91 days a tax year. (The average is taken over the period of absence up to a maximum of four years)

Any days spent in the UK because of exceptional circumstances
beyond your control, for example the illness of yourself or a member of
your immediate family, are not normally counted for this purpose.)"

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/ir20.pdf