Selling UK home post arrival in France.
 

Thank you for accepting me to the forum. New member & first post!

I am due to move to France in late December and start a business. I was planning on already having moved to France and be in rented accommodation whilst looking for a house to purchase. Due to various personal reasons, buyers dropping out and not least Covid lockdowns the sale of my UK home will not complete until either January or February 2021. And so I will be moving to France in December, in to rented accommodation and will be applying for a temporary Titre de Séjour via online system then.

My situation will not be text book as my wife and children will stay in UK for 2021 to finish GCSE, and with starting a business, and selling the house after 1/1/2021, I want to ensure I can get everything as close to perfect as possible for our situation.

I'm trying to understand French tax laws (I've realised that it's very different than in the UK) regarding the sale of a home and whether I will be required to pay tax.

Does anyone know / could recommend a French Tax advisor who deals immigration and overseas assets?

Any other advice very much appreciated.

Re: Selling UK home post arrival in France.
 

Hi
Welcome to the forum.
Your situation is very complex because in France you declare your tax as a family.
You are normally considered to be tax resident in the country where your family lives.
You also do not pay Capital Gains Tax on your principal residence.
The French tax year runs up to 31st December whereas the UK tax year is from April 5th.
I do not think that you will get a definitive answer from an online forum and I suggest that you need an accountant who is fluent in both UK and French tax law.
Best of luck with your move.

Re: Selling UK home post arrival in France.
 

I agree with Cyrian. Yours is not a simple situation and you need to get it right.
As I see it your problem might be, justifying that you were correctly exercising freedom of movement before the end of transition.
Will you be claiming residence rights as a "worker", i.e. will your business be all set up and running before 31 Dec? Is your landlord happy about your business being registered to/operating from the address of the rental property?
Does your wife have her own income in the UK, i.e. can you make a case to the tax office for being treated as two independent individuals ie two separate households for tax purposes, which as Cyrian has said is not the norm in France?
I think CGT is probably one of the least of your worries.

Re: Selling UK home post arrival in France.
 

The OP will be wanting to claim that his primary residence is in France but will be selling his (secondary?) residence in the UK.
However, his wife is in the UK still occupying their primary UK residence until it is sold and she will not be resident in France.
I don't see how you untangle this without expert advice.
Apart from that, how do you explain that to the fisc?

Just read the other post about travelling in France so the OP had to negotiate the Covid travel restrictions in the UK and France.

Re: Selling UK home post arrival in France.
 

He did say "late December", which will miss the confinement in France, but will be cutting it fine for proving that he will have been actually living here before 31st December 2020, e.g. an electricity bill showing consumption of energy.
@volare As hinted, you'll need the landlord's written permission to use the rental address for your business. Apologies if you've already done so, but have you sorted out private healthcare insurance to cover yourself between your date of arrival and entry into the French S.S. System?
These are just thoughts to be taken into account, in addition to the other issues.

Re: Selling UK home post arrival in France.
 

I'm not saying CGT isn't an issue, obviously it needs to be clarified.
But as I understood the OP, the sale seems to be imminent.
If the UK house was his primary residence until mid December, and the sale competes Jan or Feb as he expects, I don't think the fisc are going to quibble about that. As I understand it they normally allow a reasonable length of time to sell a primary residence after you have moved, they don't start classing it as secondary residency the day after you move out.
No?