If you live in France and a UK private pension has been paid with PAYE tax deducted, the first question is not how to persuade the pension provider to send more money. It is which country is entitled to tax that particular payment, for which tax year, and on what evidence. Brexit did not cancel the France–UK Double Taxation Convention. A British resident of France may therefore have a route to UK relief at source for future payments and a repayment claim for tax already withheld. That route is different from a French tax-credit claim, different again from a claim based on a UK personal allowance, and not necessarily available for a civil-service pension. The classification of the pension, French treaty residence, the date of each payment, the gross amount and the exact PAYE deduction must all match. This guide focuses on a private UK pension or comparable retirement payment received by an individual who is tax-resident in France. It explains the treaty test, the French declaration, HM Revenue & Customs Form France-Individual DT, the evidence bundle and the remedies when a claim is refused. It does not cover a French property purchase or company creation.

I. When is a UK private pension taxable in France and when is PAYE refundable?

A. How do you prove French residence and identify the pension that was paid?

A tax refund claim begins with a payment identity, not with the currency in which the payment arrived. “UK pension” can describe a State Pension, a workplace pension, a personal pension, a Self-Invested Personal Pension, an annuity bought with pension savings, a local-government pension or a civil-service pension. The legal source of the entitlement determines the treaty article. The provider’s ordinary label is evidence, but it is not the complete legal analysis.

Ask the payer for a written description of the right that produced the payment. The file should identify the scheme or insurer, the legal payer, the date the pension first became payable, whether contributions arose from employment, whether the scheme is private or public, the gross amount, the tax withheld and the reason for the PAYE code. A P60 may show the annual figures without explaining the treaty category. A pension booklet, award letter, scheme rules and provider correspondence can fill that gap.

The distinction matters most in three situations. First, an ordinary private pension connected with past employment is normally examined under Article 18 of the current France–UK convention. Secondly, a payment for services to the UK government or a local authority is tested under Article 19, not automatically Article 18. Thirdly, a purchased annuity or a payment from an investment arrangement may require the facts to be compared with both the pension article and the residual-income article. The tax result cannot be selected by looking at the bank statement alone.

French domestic law starts with the taxpayer’s domicile. Articles 4 A and 4 B of the French General Tax Code set out the domestic tests for people whose tax home is in France, including the household, principal stay, professional activity and economic interests. Those tests are separate from the treaty tie-breaker. Keep a residence chronology for every year concerned: the date the French home became the household’s main home, the location of a spouse or children, days spent in each country, employment, business activity, health registration, schooling and the centre from which financial affairs were managed.

A residence permit is not the same thing as a tax residence certificate. Immigration status establishes a right to stay under immigration law; treaty residence asks which country treats the person as resident for the convention in the relevant year. A British citizen can have a valid French residence card but still need evidence of the actual tax position. Conversely, a person can be French treaty-resident before the residence card procedure has been completed. The claim should state the year and the evidence, rather than treating the card as conclusive.

The Conseil d’État made this evidential point in 14 February 1979, no. 06961. The case concerned an earlier France–UK treaty and different facts, but the court did not treat British nationality and a British Crown pension as sufficient proof of UK treaty residence. The practical lesson remains valuable: a passport, the location of a pension provider and a sterling bank account do not replace a residence certificate and a coherent year-by-year chronology.

Use a payment map before completing either country’s forms. It should contain at least:

• the exact name and address of the pension scheme, insurer or public body;
• the contract or award reference and the legal date on which the entitlement began;
• the dates and gross sterling amounts of every payment in the claim period;
• the PAYE deducted from each payment and the tax code used;
• any lump sum, commutation, refund of contributions or death-related payment shown separately;
• the French tax year to which the payment belongs and the UK tax year shown on the P60; and
• the treaty article and French return treatment considered for each separate income stream.

This schedule prevents a common error: treating a pension provider’s annual net payment as the taxable figure. The amount that reached a French account is not necessarily the amount that must be declared. A refund claim also cannot be calculated reliably from a bank credit if the provider made several payments, changed the tax code or paid an exceptional withdrawal in the same year.

The French declaration obligation is broad. Article 170 of the General Tax Code requires a person liable for income tax to file a detailed return and addresses income received outside France. That obligation is not removed because the UK may ultimately repay PAYE. A British resident should therefore separate the French reporting question from the UK repayment question: a pension may have to be disclosed in France even when the UK withholding was not due.

The domestic French category also needs to be identified. Article 158 of the General Tax Code contains the rules for pensions and for a life annuity acquired for consideration. An annuity bought directly with capital can have an age-based taxable fraction, whereas an occupational pension can follow the ordinary pension rules. That domestic calculation does not itself decide the treaty allocation. It is possible for an income stream to be a French pension or annuity for domestic calculation and still require a separate treaty conclusion about the United Kingdom’s taxing right.

Keep purchased annuities in a separate schedule. Record the age at the first payment, the premium or capital used, the contract terms, the guaranteed period and any survivor’s benefit. Do not apply an age-based annuity fraction to a workplace pension merely because the provider uses the word “annuity”. Conversely, do not assume that a contract purchased with pension savings is automatically an ordinary employment pension. The source of the right and the scheme documents decide the starting point.

Public pensions require a different warning. A UK civil-service, armed-forces or local-government pension can be governed by Article 19 if it is paid for services rendered to the state or local authority. The identity of the funding body and the services performed matter. A payment from a private contractor or a pension scheme serving a public-sector worker is not automatically a government pension. Request a written payer classification and, where necessary, the statutory basis for the award.

Cour administrative d’appel de Nancy, 27 November 2003, no. 99NC01153, concerned the public-service distinction under an earlier treaty. Its reasoning shows why a public pension should not be placed in the private-pension box without checking the service and the public funds behind it. That judgment is not a substitute for the current convention, but it is a useful case reference when a provider’s generic description hides a public-service origin.

State Pension payments also deserve precise wording. The fact that a payment is administered by the UK does not make it a government-service pension. Social-security entitlement, National Insurance records and tax allocation are connected facts but different legal questions. A person may have an S1 healthcare document or a UK National Insurance record without that document deciding the income-tax article. The application must state whether the amount is a State Pension, a private scheme pension, an annuity or a public-service benefit.

B. Does Article 18, Article 19 or Article 23 allocate the taxing right?

The current convention is the France–UK Double Taxation Convention published on Légifrance, signed on 19 June 2008 and effective for the relevant taxes after its entry into force. Its English text is also reproduced by the UK Government. Brexit changed immigration and social-security arrangements, but it did not erase this income-tax treaty. A claim based on a 1951 or 1968 extract found in an old forum can therefore be built on the wrong wording and the wrong year.

For a private pension linked to past employment, Article 18 is the normal starting point. The official English text describes the relevant income as pensions and other similar remuneration paid in consideration of past employment and provides that the income shall be taxable only in that State, subject to the public-service rule in Article 19(2). In a straightforward case, a person who is treaty-resident in France and receives an ordinary private UK pension should therefore examine whether France has the exclusive taxing right and whether UK PAYE should be repaid.

“Private” does not mean “any pension paid by a private company”. A pension may be administered by an insurer or payroll provider while arising from public service. Conversely, a personal pension can be held with a large financial institution but have a private employment or personal-contribution source. The evidence should connect the payment to the employment or contribution history, the scheme rules and the payer’s legal obligation.

Article 19 is the principal exception. It covers remuneration and pensions paid by, or out of funds created by, a contracting state or local authority for services rendered to that body. It contains a residence-and-nationality exception whose effect depends on the recipient’s nationalities and the exact paragraph. A British national who lives in France cannot obtain an Article 18 repayment merely by asserting that the pension is received in France. The claim must first show why Article 19 does not apply, or why a specific exception does.

Article 23 can be relevant where a payment is not dealt with by the preceding articles. It is a residual provision, not a convenient label for an uncertain pension. A claimant relying on it should explain why the payment is not employment remuneration, not a public-service pension and not another specifically allocated item. An insurer’s description, the contract, the reason the payment was made and the tax treatment of the contributions may all be material.

Article 24 then addresses relief from double taxation. It should not be confused with a UK repayment claim. If the treaty gives France the exclusive taxing right over a private pension, UK PAYE is normally challenged as an incorrect source-country deduction. If the treaty gives the UK a taxing right over a public-service pension, the French return may need a different disclosure or credit calculation. The words “taxed twice” do not identify the remedy; the treaty paragraph does.

The Conseil d’État’s decision no. 435907 of 12 February 2020 illustrates the care required when a French foreign-tax credit is claimed. The court explained that the treaty condition did not require effective payment of UK tax, but did require the income to be included in the UK tax base as defined by the convention. That decision concerned a different income category, not the repayment of a private pension’s PAYE. Its value here is methodological: a UK tax statement, a UK exemption and the treaty’s definition of taxable income are not interchangeable facts.

Another case, Conseil d’État, 27 July 2012, no. 337656, concerned UK residence and the remittance-basis context under an earlier treaty. It demonstrates why domestic residence status, actual treaty residence and the way income was treated in the source country must be documented separately. A claimant who has changed countries during a tax year should not copy a certificate or tax code from one period into another without checking the move date.

There are four questions to answer in the treaty memorandum attached to the claim:

1. Where was the individual resident under French domestic law and under the treaty for each relevant year?
2. What legal right produced each payment, and was it private, public-service, social-security or a purchased annuity?
3. Which treaty article assigns the taxing right, and does any paragraph change the result?
4. Is the requested remedy a UK repayment, UK relief at source, French correction, French foreign-tax credit or only a disclosure and effective-rate entry?

That four-part explanation is more persuasive than an assertion that “the treaty says France”. It tells HMRC why the payer’s deduction was not due and tells the French tax administration how the income has been reported. It also prevents a taxpayer from claiming a UK repayment while simultaneously inserting the same UK withholding as a French credit without a treaty basis.

For a private UK pension, the strongest claim normally combines a French tax residence certificate, the pension scheme classification, the relevant treaty extract, the gross payment schedule, the P60 and the requested future withholding position. If the pension is public, mixed or paid during a change of residence, obtain a written analysis before filing a blanket France-Individual claim. The cost of a wrong classification is not limited to one month’s PAYE: HMRC may reject the claim, and the French return may then contain an inconsistent treaty position.

For the wider framework of UK pension taxation and treaty reporting after Brexit, read this British Desk guide to UK pensions in France alongside the repayment procedure set out here. If France has already issued an incorrect assessment, the guide to challenging a French reassessment of UK pension income addresses the downstream correction. The present article addresses the narrower PAYE error and refund path, so that a general declaration guide is not mistaken for a repayment application.

II. How do you claim the UK refund and correct the French tax position?

A. Which forms and evidence should a British resident in France prepare?

The practical UK route is the official France–Individual DT form. GOV.UK expressly says: Use form France-Individual to apply for relief at source or to claim repayment of UK Income Tax. This is the form designed for an individual resident in France who receives UK State Pension, pensions, purchased annuities, interest or royalties and seeks treaty treatment. It is not a generic complaint email to the pension provider.

Download the current form and its notes from the UK Government’s official France–Individual publication page. The form asks for the applicant’s identity, address, tax residence, UK income and the relief or repayment requested. The accompanying HMRC notes explain that the form can cover repayment where payments have already been made with UK tax deducted. Use the current published version rather than a blank form downloaded from an advice forum.

The form should be completed as a source-by-source claim. If you have a private pension, a civil-service pension and bank interest, do not assume that one conclusion applies to all three. List only the income for which the treaty relief is requested and explain the different treatment of any other UK income. HMRC may need a new or additional claim when a new payer or new income source begins.

Prepare the French certification first. The French tax authority must be able to confirm that you are resident in France for treaty purposes. The normal route is to submit the form to the relevant Service des Impôts des Particuliers, meaning the French individual-tax office that manages your account, so that the residence section can be certified. The form and notes then direct the certified claim to HMRC. Follow the address and submission instructions printed on the current form; the HMRC post address shown in the notes is not a reason to bypass the French certification stage.

The evidence bundle should be indexed rather than sent as an unlabelled file. Include:

• the French tax number and the latest French tax assessment or residence document;
• proof of the French address and the residence chronology for each tax year;
• the pension contract, scheme rules, award notice and payer’s legal classification;
• the annual P60 and, where relevant, P45 or monthly pension statements;
• a schedule showing gross pension, PAYE withheld, payment dates and the requested repayment period;
• the French returns or draft entries showing how the pension was declared;
• any UK tax code notice, HMRC correspondence or provider explanation of the deduction; and
• a signed treaty memorandum stating why Article 18, rather than Article 19 or Article 23, applies.

The latest P60 is particularly useful because the HMRC notes refer to it when an adjustment to PAYE is sought. It does not prove French residence or the private character of a pension by itself. Treat it as the figure document, then use the contract and residence certificate for legal classification. If a previous year is claimed, attach the P60 or equivalent statement for that year and show precisely when the French residence began.

For French reporting, use the current year’s Form 2047 foreign-income instructions together with the main income-tax return. The French tax administration’s page on foreign-source income explains that the treaty and the nature of the income must be considered before selecting the return entries. A UK repayment does not erase the gross pension from the French record. If France has the exclusive taxing right under Article 18, the French return usually remains the place where the pension is calculated and taxed under French rules.

Do not use a UK tax repayment as though it were a French foreign-tax credit. A repayment reduces or returns UK tax that should not have been withheld. A French credit is a separate mechanism used where the treaty leaves a taxing right with the United Kingdom and prescribes relief in France. The return should state whether the UK amount is a tax payment, a later repayment, an amount excluded under the treaty or an amount included for an effective-rate calculation.

French collection mechanics are also separate. Article 204 A of the General Tax Code sets out the French income-tax collection system, including the treatment of certain foreign-source income. Article 204 B concerns income within the French withholding framework. These provisions do not authorise a British pension provider to deduct French tax, and a French advance payment should not be cancelled merely because the pension is paid from a UK account. Check the current French tax account and the year’s notice.

Healthcare documents should be preserved but not overused. An S1 certificate can be relevant to French social contributions and health coverage, but it does not decide whether Article 18 or Article 19 applies to income tax. Likewise, a National Insurance statement proves contribution history, not the private or public nature of the pension. Keep health evidence in a separate section of the bundle so that the treaty-income argument stays clear.

If the payment is a purchased life annuity rather than a pension, add the original purchase contract, the capital used, the first-payment date and the age at that date. The French calculation may differ from an ordinary pension calculation. If the amount is a lump sum, commutation or trivial-commutation payment, include the P45 parts 2 and 3 if available and ask the payer to explain the PAYE treatment. Do not use a monthly-pension schedule for a one-off withdrawal.

B. What should you do when HMRC or the French tax office refuses the refund?

There are two different correction tracks. A UK repayment claim challenges PAYE deducted by the UK payer or accounted for through HMRC. A French claim challenges the French return, assessment, collection or social contribution. Open both tracks only when the documents show an error in each country. One administration cannot correct the other administration’s assessment.

For future payments, request relief at source through the France–Individual form and give the certified result to HMRC in the manner required by the current notes. A separate instruction to the pension provider may be needed after HMRC issues its direction, but the provider should not be asked to decide the treaty article without the HMRC reference. For past payments, complete the repayment part with the source, dates, gross amounts and PAYE deducted. State the exact amount sought and show how it was calculated.

Check the deadline before sending a historic claim. GOV.UK’s guidance for people living abroad explains that a non-resident may use the relevant refund process for current and earlier UK tax years, subject to the applicable conditions and time limits. Its personal-allowance and tax-refund guidance refers to claims covering the current year and the last four tax years in the R43 context. R43 is not a substitute for treaty relief where Form France-Individual DT is the correct route. The safe approach is to claim promptly, list every tax year separately and verify the current HMRC limit for the particular relief before assuming that an older year is recoverable.

A delayed claim can also create a proof problem. Pension providers merge records, tax codes change and a former address may not match the French certificate. Preserve the date on which you first requested the P60, the date the French office certified the form, the date HMRC received it and every reference number. If the deadline is near, file a complete protective claim and explain which document is being chased rather than waiting silently for an ideal bundle.

When HMRC refuses, read the reason rather than repeating the same form. Common reasons include an uncertified French residence section, a missing or inconsistent tax year, a payer that has not been identified, a claim that covers a public-service pension under Article 18, an income source not listed on the form, a mismatch between the P60 and the repayment schedule, or evidence that the individual was resident in both states during the period. The response should answer the stated defect point by point.

Send a short legal and factual response with a table. Column one should identify the payment and tax year. Column two should give the document proving its source. Column three should state the treaty article. Column four should show the gross income and PAYE. Column five should state whether the requested outcome is repayment for the past or relief at source for the future. Add the French residence certification and the relevant official treaty page. A concise reconciliation is easier to audit than a long narrative with no arithmetic.

If HMRC treats a private pension as UK-taxable because of the payer’s location, answer with the pension’s legal source and Article 18 analysis. If it treats a public pension as private, provide the public-service award and funding evidence. If it says that the individual was not resident in France, provide the French tax certificate and the residence chronology for that specific year. If it says that tax was not actually paid in France, do not use the Conseil d’État decision no. 435907 as a universal answer: that decision concerned a treaty credit condition and a different income category. Explain the precise condition in the current treaty paragraph.

French correction has its own legal basis. A claim against an assessment or calculation error can be made under Article L. 190 of the Book of Tax Procedures, which covers claims based on an error in the assessment or calculation of tax or on a right arising from a legal or regulatory provision. The letter should identify the notice, the tax year, the challenged line, the amount, the legal rule and the documents. Ask for a corrected assessment and repayment of the overpaid amount, not merely a general explanation.

The current Form 2041-E notice for foreign income states the relevant French claim periods in its complaints section, including the 31 December deadline in the second year following the assessment for income tax and wealth-tax claims, with a different rule for certain withholding errors. Check the notice for the filing year and the type of error. Do not apply a French deadline mechanically to the UK repayment claim, or a UK four-year reference mechanically to the French complaint.

The administrative courts also insist on the sequence of domestic law and treaty law. In Cour administrative d’appel de Nantes, 7 November 2013, no. 12NT02967, the court explained that a bilateral treaty is not, by itself, the direct legal basis for imposing tax; domestic law is examined first and the treaty can then prevent or limit that assessment. For a British resident, the complaint should therefore say both what the French code requires and why the France–UK convention changes the final result.

A useful complaint against France has this order:

1. identify the taxpayer, French tax number, notice, year and amount;
2. describe the UK pension and attach the scheme evidence;
3. prove French treaty residence for the year;
4. quote or link the current treaty article and explain the classification;
5. show the French return entry and the corrected calculation;
6. separate income tax from CSG, CRDS and any healthcare-related charge; and
7. request a precise correction, refund and written confirmation of the future treatment.

Consider a simple example. A French treaty resident receives £10,000 from a private UK pension during a year. The provider deducts £2,000 under PAYE and pays £8,000. The file should show the £10,000 gross amount, the £2,000 deduction, each payment date, the euro conversion used for the French return, the scheme classification and the French residence evidence. If Article 18 assigns the private pension taxing right to France, the £2,000 is not automatically a French credit: it is the amount potentially recoverable from the United Kingdom, while the pension remains subject to the French reporting and tax calculation. The example does not promise a refund. If the payment was actually a public-service pension, a taxable lump sum or an amount paid during UK treaty residence, the outcome can change.

Currency conversion is a frequent source of inconsistency. Do not use the net sterling credit for the French return and the gross sterling amount for HMRC without explaining the difference. Keep the exchange-rate source, the conversion date or annual method and the rounding calculation. When the provider’s P60 uses the UK tax year but France uses the calendar year, allocate payments by payment date and maintain a separate reconciliation. A spreadsheet with one row per payment is more reliable than a single annual estimate.

Do not sign a form that claims every UK pension is exempt in the United Kingdom. A claimant can be entitled to repayment for a private pension while a public-service pension remains taxable in the UK. A State Pension, private pension, purchased annuity and survivor’s payment may need four lines of analysis. If a spouse receives a separate pension, do not combine the claims merely because the French return is filed jointly.

Likewise, do not assume that a PAYE code proves that HMRC has made a final treaty decision. PAYE is a collection mechanism. The code may be based on an incomplete address, a previous UK residence, a personal allowance calculation or a provider’s default. The claim should attack the legal reason for the deduction and provide the residence and source evidence needed for a correction.

Keep the full correspondence trail after the refund. Save the signed form, the French certification, the HMRC submission proof, the repayment calculation, the decision, the provider’s new tax code and the first payment made after relief at source. Check the next statement rather than assuming that a favourable letter changed the payroll instruction. If the deduction continues, notify HMRC with the reference and ask the provider to explain the continued code.

Finally, review the position when the taxpayer moves back to the UK, becomes resident in another country, starts a public pension, changes the scheme, receives a lump sum or dies. A French certificate for one year does not automatically control a later year. An executor or beneficiary also needs a new analysis of the payment right. A treaty repayment claim is strongest when it is limited to the exact person, income, year and deduction proved by the documents.

Conclusion

A British resident in France who sees PAYE deducted from a UK private pension should first prove French treaty residence and the private nature of the payment. The current France–UK convention, French domestic rules and the scheme documents must point to the same conclusion. Declare the gross pension in France through the current foreign-income process, distinguish a UK repayment from a French tax credit, and use the certified France–Individual DT route for UK relief at source or repayment of past PAYE. Keep a payment-by-payment schedule, P60s, contracts, residence evidence and the correspondence trail. If HMRC refuses, answer the precise defect; if France assessed the income incorrectly, protect the French complaint deadline under the Book of Tax Procedures. Public-service pensions, purchased annuities, lump sums and change-of-residence years require separate treatment. The objective is not simply to recover money, but to leave both tax administrations with one consistent legal and numerical record.

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