Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Hello all,

I recently moved back to the UK after 5 years in France. I left my french bank accounts in place to deal with things like taxe d'habitation etc. I recently contacted my bank to enquire about closing an assurance vie account that I have held for 3.5 years, and they sent me back a form (cerfa 5000), which they say I need to get completed and stamped by "my local tax authority", in the UK.

I have a few questions that I hope someone can help me with:

• Has anyone ever heard of this form?
• Would HMRC even fill this out for me?
• If they do, does that mean there is no tax to pay in France, or do HMRC reimburse the tax?
• Will there also be UK tax to pay on this type of account?
• Does this form also apply to other types of account like PEL?

Thanks for any suggestions or advice that anyone might have !

Re: Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Hi,
Télécharger Formulaire 5000 en anglais (gratuit)
gives the English version of this Cerfa form. Much too long to download, but since Assurances-Vie are taken into account by the Fisc at some point, they obviously want to make sure you keep within sight, wherever you move.
As you haven't had your Assurance-Vie for very long, you may find you have to pay a penalty if you redeem it (i.e. a tax to the Fisc to "pay back" the tax perk when you took out the Assurance-Vie). My late neighbour took out an Assurance-Vie, but not early enough, and her heirs lost out on this part of their inheritance. The "penalty" was deducted from the amount before it was released.
Not so sure about the PEL, my daughters have one each and they've never redeemed them, but
https://www.service-public.fr/partic...sdroits/F16140
gives info on closing a PEL. It doesn't look as though you'd lose out by closing it, only that you'd have less possibility of taking out a loan later to buy property in France.
Hope this is of some help!:)

Re: Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Hi Kalmar,

I was wondering if you had been able to resolve this and whether you had any guidance to share on how you managed to close your Assurance Vie?

Thanks

Re: Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Hi,

I sent the forms off to HMRC, who did complete them and send them back to me. It took about 2 months to receive a reply. I sent them to the general PAYE address, and the person who responded was obviously familiar with them.

My French bank insisted on receiving the originals, rather than scanned copies. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of sending the forms to France by regular post instead of using a recorded delivery service, so the bank claimed that they never tuned up. So, now I'm back to repeating the whole process with HMRC! My plan is to take the new set of forms myself to France next time I'm visiting, and deliver them by hand. That way there's no possibility of them not turning up.

So no resolution yet I'm afraid! :sad_smile:

Re: Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Good point - in order to be valid, ALL letters cancelling ALL contracts must be sent by LRAR within France and recorded delivery from abroad.
If you deliver the documents by hand, ask for a written receipt from the agent...

Re: Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Yes, a lesson learned.

I did wonder about using recorded delivery post next time, but I'm not sure whether it carries the same legal weight in France as LRAR.

When I cancelled things like my phone contract I used the LRAR online service which worked perfectly. But obviously that's not an option when you need to send the original documents.

Re: Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Thanks for the update! Good luck with your next attempt :)

Did you get asked to complete a form 5002 - as well? Prior to sending to HMRC did you complete any sections of the form?

Re: Closing Assurance Vie account from abroad
 

Yes I also sent off a cerfa 5002 to HMRC. I just filled in my name at the top, and then signed and dated it.

That form doesn't actually get stamped by HMRC, but since it's mentioned on the 5000, I decided to just send the lot. I think that the form is meant to be filled in by the French bank when they close the account and pay out the money.

One thing to note - HMRC kept one copy of each form (marked For use by the foreign tax authority). My French bank complained that they really needed all 3 copies, although they would make do with 2.