manctofu

Hello.

I moved to France in July this year so next year will be completing my first tax return (gulp).

What I'm wondering is, will I have to declare what I earned back in the UK between January and July, before I moved? Or does the fact that I stopped being UK resident on 30th June and became French resident on 1st July mean that they will only be interested in income after that date?

Thanks in advance.

EuroTrash

No, you inform HMRC of the date you ceased living in the UK (there's a form you should have filled in, I forget the number but hopefully you did it) and you declare your income to the UK up to that date, and on your French tax return you enter the date when you arrived in France and declare your income as from then. They're not interested in what you earned when you lived in the UK cos they can't tax you on it. Make sure the dates match in case they cross check

French tax returns aren't too scary and the tax office will help you if you get stuck, so don't worry.

manctofu

I see, as I suspected.

Thanks a lot!

Im_and_Er

Although it makes sense to tell HMRC that you are leaving the UK you are under no obligation to do so and in any case you could be going anywhere before settling in France so realistically there are no dates for anybody to cross check even if they wanted to.

The chances of that are remote in the extreme and would probably only happen if you had the misfortune to be investigated by the French tax man.

nicktonight

I completely agree with the above advice and did the same when I moved. However is it technically correct as it can save you a lot of tax if you move on the right date? you end up remaining in lower tax brackets in both countries. For instance someone earning 100K could end up paying tax on 50K in the UK and 50K in France for the same year

mtp-london

The tax return requests information on salaries outside UK, salaries in France and anything else (dividends, money on property etc) in UK, and in France, in the actual tax year, Jan to Dec. Any tax paid in UK in that UK tax year will be taken into account when assessing your French tax amounts, along with your family situations etc. There are people who can help (expats) and charge very little. Do a search online.