Nobody employed by Inland Revenue (or HMRC) would recommend that a French resident, who has to declare the whole of their worldwide income there, should avoid telling the French tax authorities how much their Government pension is. That is basic data required by France.
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Beg to disagree there David and what you have said is tantamount to calling me a liar which I take great exception to. I started this topic and I WAS told by a “Technical Expert” at HMRC to leave my Local Authority Pension off the Form France - Individual. I was put through to him by the first person I spoke to at HMRC when I rang about advising my change of address as I’m moving to France. I’d started off by ringing the DWP International section - as is advised on Gov.UK - Moving to France. They didn’t want to know about my change of address and put me through to HMRC! The whole phone call was very weird. The technical expert’s advice sounded odd given what I’d read elsewhere about France’s requirement to declare worldwide income . I questioned it several times and wrote down his reply as I sometimes forget stuff after I’ve put the Phone down (short term memory issues -explained further below) hence my query to this forum . Seems I either ask the wrong questions on here or not in the right way for some people as I either get subjected to abuse and have now been called a liar. I can see why people end up leaving it. I’m a person of generous spirit with a heart of gold and I never lie. I suffer with a brain condition which makes me easily confused . It’s called temporal lobe atrophy & was caused by not being diagnosed with a thyroid condition. The thyroid can and is being treated but it doesn’t reverse the brain condition. I didn’t expect people to know that about me but I’m just trying to explain why I’m sometimes a bit long winded and go into detail or worry about things . To accuse me of lying is extremely hurtful. A bit of empathy wouldn’t go amiss from some on here too.
I am pointing out a basic concept. The French tax system requires that residents declare their whole worldwide income including that income that is taxed elsewhere and credited through a dual tax treaty. They use that income to calculate the level of tax due on income earned in France amongst other things. A huge number of Britons resident in France are in this position as their main income comes from Government pensions and/or rental income from U.K. property. You quite clearly stated that individuals should say that they have an income but not declare what that income is. That is illegal and, I repeat, nobody who had worked for HMRC would offer that advice.
Many people moving to France or considering moving to France read pages like these to gain basic information in English. Posts telling people that they do not have to declare the amount received from a Government pension, that a UK can be SORNed and driven quite legally in France etc cannot be allowed to be left online without the real situation being impressed.
I’m not sure why my reply to another poster can be considered to be calling you, Essexness, a liar anyway. Perhaps you would like to supply a link to the post where you offered the same advice.
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Hello Vanessa
I don’t think that anyone is ‘accusing you of lying’ you obviously had the conversation with the person concerned and noted down what they said.
However on such an important issue it is best to ask the person’s name for future reference and ask if they will send you a letter confirming what they have said. This way you have written evidence and proof where needed.
I agree with David, Stella and many others on SF, your full income from whatever and wherever must be declared in France.
Why not pop down to the tax office, they are not ogres, explain your situation and ask for their help. Better to do it now than face a fine in the future.
Yesterday I had to call in to my tax office with a query, they have given a rebate to my mother, I believed it was an error on their part as how can you have a rebate on zero tax ? However in mum’s case things have changed, I need to verify some information with them, but she is entitled to a rebate (long story) they were very pleased that I queried this and we will get it sorted quickly.
I think that if mum had just accepted the rebate then there could have been problems further down the line.
You seem to understand that you have to declare your worldwide income and have certainly had poor advice from HBSC.
Also the international department should also be interested in your change of address as we are always notified by post of any change in the ampunt of our state pension.
As you are of pensionable age are you applying for the form S1 to enable you to join the french health system?
I apologise if this has already been discussed as I have not read the whole thread.
Essexness obviously thought my reply to a John Wellum who does claim to have worked for Inland Revenue and did write that you should avoid telling the French tax authorities your actual income that you have paid tax on in the UK was a reply to her. I do not know why she thinks I am calling her a liar as I cannot see that she wrote anything like that.
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Thank you Jane but it wasn’t HSBC it was HMRC- the horses mouth! I was somewhat incredulous so posted on here - now it seems I’m being asked to provide evidence - I can’t as it as a phone call! I was trying to be the honest citizen I am and had in accordance with the latest U.K. government guidelines on Gov.uk called the DWP to advise my forthcoming change of address . They told me to ring their International helpline. I did. They put me through to HMRC with a “they deal with everything & then it filters down to us in the DWP” . The first person I spoke to in HMRC said I needed to speak to a (quote) technical expert . He confirmed I’d found the correct form to tell them of change of address P85 - which can only be completed once you’ve left the U.K. - online - and it won’t let you put a future date in - I tried - computer said no. He also told me to complete Form France - Individual but to leave off my (somewhat paltry - it’s only £2500 a year ) Local Govt Pension as that would be taxed in the U.K. . I made him repeat it several times as I’d already noticed the French require you to declare worldwide income . I wrote down his comment as I tend to forget some parts of phone calls due to short term memory issues - as I explained to David. As for asking the person’s name & for them to put it in writing as someone else has suggested - all very well to say that now but hindsight is a much overused word and isn’t very helpful now . I didn’t think it necessary at the time. It seems this forum doesn’t lend itself to being accessed on a mobile device as the email notifications I get through seem to all relate to the same thread but I’m being told that they’re on a different discussion & to provide a link to my original post . I can’t work out how to do that as I’m on my Mobile which is all I have available at the moment. From what I can see the original post - mine - is at the top so I’m giving up. I’ve enough stress at the moment without getting embroiled in semantics. Everyday news in the U.K. is enough to give you a heart attack at the moment let alone looking at what it’s doing to the exchange rate which has in the past few weeks knocked our budget for six . I shall leave worrying about the tax man until we’ve settled in. If Brexit goes the way it’s looking at the moment we might find ourselves being shown the door before our first tax return is due anyway. In any event I’m sure they’ll come looking for me eventually - they only ever seem to bother those honest individuals with small resources. Those with lots of money can afford to pay someone to hide it for them.
Vanessa… you’ve enough on your mind… moving home is one of the most stressful times… so take it gently… 
Your French Declaration can wait until next year, when you will have a nice, gentle chat with your local French Tax folk…
I wrote in my original post that I’d spoken directly to HMRC. I’m on a mobile device and can’t post the link back to my original post nor can I see what other threads people may be replying to - the nature of the medium I’m using is too small. I’ve no other device available at the moment . It’s all packed ready to go! On my phone my post shows as no 1 within a Thread entitled Strange conversation with HMRC. It seems others have either posted elsewhere or held a tangelical conversation which my original post may have started off. Either way it seemed from what was being said that I was being called a liar as I’d had a direct conversation- this Monday with HMRC who had told me to leave off my Local Govt Pension . I was simply trying to find out if anyone else had been given this advice as it seemed wrong . I wasn’t trying to set off a hornets nest of a discussion on the intricacies of tax returns which, by virtue of the fact that everyone’s situation is different are bound to be complicated.
Your post might be at the top of the thread but, in the way that these forums work, answers far down the page are just as likely to be replies to or comments about other posts. I still cannot see what you have written that makes you think that I am calling you a liar. I don’t think that you have claimed to work for IR or advised people to withhold basic information from the French tax authorities, those things were written by another contributor and I was questioning his input, not yours.
(This is not a response to your latest post, I was writing this before you posted that)
Thanks Stella - sage , calm advice as ever . All I was trying to do was be my honest self as usual & follow the guidelines for letting all and sundry know where we’re going etc. No doubt the UK tax man will find me - they only ever seem to pursue those of us with limited resources🤣 Those with shed loads of money can afford to pay someone to hide it for them lol!
Off topic but I finally managed to get hold of our Mairie yesterday after several abortive attempts. The lady I spoke to had got my message but not understood my translation of my email address for her to reply to - not surprised - I’d said it all wrong! Anyhow . They seem ok with the fact we’re going to block the road for a couple of hours while we unload - we’ve got warning triangles - and have even told us where we can park the lorry up overnight .
Well done… it takes courage to tackle folk in a foreign language… your Mairie sound nice and helpful…
Are you having your Mail redirected to France ??? It is worth the fee… and that will cover any stray letters for a while… and then you can take your time notifying all and sundry of your new address…
Hi Vanessa
As usual great advice from lovely Stella. Just get yourself here and settled and then worry about the tax situation after. Nothing has to be done immediately so put it out of your mind for now.
In my past UK life I was one of those pesky people you could pay to “hide” your money as you put it! In other words I was a Tax Adviser for a large firm of accountants. These days I don’t charge to give a little bit of advice, so once you have settled in and want to tackle this subject again, send me a private message and we can talk about it calmly and peacefully.
How does that sound?
Best of luck with the move x
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Hi Stella - yes I’ve done that thanks. Pretty hefty price now - over £200 for 6 months - almost £300 for a year. Most of our post is junk as virtually everything is online . You can extend the time If you find it might be helpful so I just went with 6 months for now.
Hope Royal Mail does a better job with redirection than it did with delivering a parcel containing keys I’d sent to my neighbour in France. I laugh about it now but it added to the stress at the time. By virtue of a “miss scan “ at Heathrow RM sent it to the Czech Republic ! Eventually found its way back to the U.K. after 10 days travelling around Europe but then “got lost” at our local depot! For 5 days I was told it was out for delivery to me here at home in the U.K. It wasn’t . It had gone back to France & 10 days later my neighbour emailed to say she’d got it. The Royal Mail’s tracker still says - 2 weeks later, that the parcel is still at the depot in France …
Thanks Mandy - that would be very much appreciated. I wasn’t having a go at Tax Advisors lol - more at those UK politicians with offshore assets who are no doubt running scared of the forthcoming EU directive lol. My husband has an accountant friend who does his return for him here as he’s (or was) self employed . We are respectful of his expert knowledge but obviously he won’t know much , if anything about the French system.
Great Vanessa. I will wait to hear from you.
Yes, those politicians with offshore assets about to be affected by the new EU directive, not the same ones in favour of Brexit are they??!! Couldn’t possibly be the case! 
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I sent a letter from France to family in …Essex, (new line) Angleterre
The “magic” sorting machine misread the “Essex” line and sent it to “E” Espagne (Spain) … fortunately, I was tracking and could see it going from pillar to post (excuse the pun)…
but,it was the first gaffe in nearly 20 years… and we had been invited to the opening of the new Postal Sorting Offices…enjoying a fun session and marvelling at the “magic” machines et al … 
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