You have retired to France with a mix of British pensions — perhaps a civil service or teachers pension, the UK State Pension and a small workplace pot — and both countries seem to want a share. HMRC keeps taxing your government pension at source, the French tax office (le fisc) asks you to declare everything, and your bank warns you about social charges you never paid in Britain. Since Brexit, the questions we hear every week in our Paris office are the same: which pension is taxed where, which forms stop the double bill, and what happens to your French healthcare cover when the pension comes from London. The answer turns on three instruments that still work after Brexit: the France-United Kingdom double tax treaty of 19 June 2008, which splits taxing rights pension by pension; the EU Social Security Coordination Regulation 883/2004 and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which protect your pension aggregation and your S1 healthcare certificate; and the French Tax Code (Code général des impôts), which taxes French residents on worldwide income but grants a 10 per cent allowance on pensions. This guide explains, in plain English with every French term translated, how retired teachers, nurses, civil servants, police officers, members of the armed forces and ordinary private-sector retirees are each treated; how to claim exemption from UK withholding through the Form France-Individual procedure; how to fill in French returns 2042 and 2047; when an S1 exempts you from French social charges (prélèvements sociaux); and how to challenge a bill where both treasuries have taxed the same pension.

I. Which UK Pension Is Taxed Where When You Retire in France After Brexit

The starting point is French tax residence. Article 4 A of the French Tax Code states: “Les personnes qui ont en France leur domicile fiscal sont passibles de l’impôt sur le revenu en raison de l’ensemble de leurs revenus.” In other words, once France is your tax home (domicile fiscal), France taxes your worldwide income, including every British pension. Article 4 B then gives three alternative tests: “Sont considérées comme ayant leur domicile fiscal en France au sens de l’article 4 A : a. Les personnes qui ont en France leur foyer ou le lieu de leur séjour principal ;” — your foyer being your family home, your séjour principal your main place of abode — alongside professional activity and centre of economic interests tests. A single test is enough, and the same article adds a decisive safety valve: “Les personnes qui satisfont à l’un au moins des critères fixés aux a à c du présent 1 ne peuvent toutefois pas être considérées comme ayant leur domicile fiscal en France lorsque, par application des conventions internationales relatives aux doubles impositions, elles ne sont pas regardées comme résidentes de France.” The treaty can therefore override domestic residence. Because the treaty allocates each pension to one country, your first task is to sort your pensions into the treaty’s boxes, not to assume that everything paid from Britain stays taxable in Britain.

A. UK Government-Service Pensions Taxed Only in the United Kingdom — Civil Service, Teachers, NHS, Police and Forces Pensions

Pensions paid by the British State, one of its political subdivisions or a local authority for past government service enjoy a special regime. HMRC’s official treaty summary for France, which maps each income to its treaty article, states for this category: government pensions taxable in the paying State except where the recipient is resident in, and solely a national of, the other State (Article 18). Read mirror-image for our reader — a British retiree resident in France receiving a UK government pension — the rule is that the pension is taxable only in the United Kingdom, the paying State, under Article 18 of the convention. The narrow exception runs the other way: if you are resident in France and a French national without also being a British national, France alone may tax it. In practice this box covers classic Crown employment: the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, teachers pensions paid from public funds, National Health Service pensions, police and firefighters pensions, and armed forces pensions. The decisive question is always who pays: a pension paid by the State or a local authority for government service falls here, while a pension from a privatised employer, even in a formerly public industry, normally does not. Check your P60 (the UK end-of-year tax certificate), your pension payslip and the identity of the paying authority before you assume anything, because the French tax office will ask for proof of the payer if it queries your return.

The practical consequence is considerable. If your teachers or civil service pension sits in this box, you declare it in France but France must exempt it: it enters the French computation only, if at all, through the effective-rate mechanism (taux effectif), which can raise the rate applied to your other French-taxed income without taxing the pension itself. You should not accept French income tax (impôt sur le revenu) assessed in full on that pension, and you should not ask HMRC to stop its withholding either, because the United Kingdom is entitled to tax it. Where clients go wrong is by treating all British pensions alike: they either omit the government pension from the French return entirely, which draws a penalty for incomplete declaration, or they pay French tax on it in full, which is a double charge the treaty forbids. Keep every P60, every annual pension statement and any letter from the scheme administrator describing the scheme as a public-service scheme. If the fisc disputes the classification, that paper trail is your evidence, and the treaty article number — Article 18 — belongs on the first page of your reply.

B. UK State Pension and Private Pensions Taxed in France — State Pension, Workplace Schemes and Personal Pensions

Everything that is not a government-service pension falls into the second box: the UK State Pension, occupational (workplace) pensions from private employers, personal pensions and most annuities (rentes viagères, the French term for life annuities). HMRC’s treaty summary maps this box as follows: other pensions and annuities taxable in the residence State, with double taxation eliminated (Articles 17 and 23). Again read mirror-image: that line is written from the British perspective for pensions taxable in the residence State, so for a French tax resident it means these pensions are taxable only in France, under Article 17, with Article 23 providing the machinery that eliminates double taxation. The British guidance for pensioners abroad confirms the logic in plain terms: British official guidance confirms that a double-taxation agreement can remove a double charge for residents of the treaty country. And the State Pension guidance adds: British State Pension guidance warns that both countries may initially tax the pension, that double-tax relief is generally available, and that where a double-taxation agreement exists the pension is taxed only once, in whichever country the agreement designates. For France, that country is France: once you are French tax resident, your UK State Pension and your private pensions belong on the French return, and the United Kingdom must give up its withholding once you complete the treaty claim procedure described in Part II below.

French domestic law then decides how the pension is measured. Article 79 of the French Tax Code provides: “Les traitements, indemnités, émoluments, salaires, pensions et rentes viagères concourent à la formation du revenu global servant de base à l’impôt sur le revenu.” Pensions therefore join your global taxable income (revenu global). Article 82 adds the measuring rule: “Pour la détermination des bases d’imposition, il est tenu compte du montant net des traitements, indemnités et émoluments, salaires, pensions et rentes viagères, ainsi que de tous les avantages en argent ou en nature accordés aux intéressés en sus des traitements, indemnités, émoluments, salaires, pensions et rentes viagères proprement dits.” The kind news follows in Article 158, which grants pensioners a flat allowance: “Les pensions et retraites font l’objet d’un abattement de 10 % qui ne peut excéder 4 439 €.” The same article sets the floor: “L’abattement indiqué au deuxième alinéa ne peut être inférieur à 454 €, sans pouvoir excéder le montant brut des pensions et retraites.” In practice the French tax office applies 10 per cent off your declared net pensions, within that ceiling and floor per household (foyer fiscal, the tax household that files jointly), before running the progressive scale (barème). Convert your sterling pensions at the annual average rate published by the tax administration, keep the Bank of England or ECB printout, and never declare the gross UK figure without deducting nothing: the 10 per cent allowance is applied by the fisc itself, so declare the full net pension and let the allowance operate.

Two mixed-career points deserve attention because they generate most of our files. First, aggregation (totalisation): if you worked in both countries, each pension system still counts the other’s insurance periods for opening your rights, under the Withdrawal Agreement for periods before 31 December 2020 and under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement from 1 January 2021. The French clearing house (Cleiss) confirms: employment periods accrued before 31 December 2020 remain counted for eligibility and calculation of French and British pension rights whenever the pension is claimed And for later periods: from 1 January 2021 the Trade and Cooperation Agreement likewise allows French and British employment periods to be taken into account for eligibility and calculation Each country then pays its own pro-rata pension (pension proratisée); aggregation opens the right but does not merge the cheques. Second, the courts police the boundaries strictly. In a case directly on point — a British national who had worked in the United Kingdom, France and Monaco and disputed his French pension rate — the Cour de cassation (Second Civil Chamber, 7 November 2019, appeal no. 18-18.344) held: “que les autorités de sécurité sociale compétentes d’un premier Etat membre de l’Union européenne sont tenues de prendre en compte, aux fins de l’acquisition du droit à prestations de vieillesse, les périodes d’assurance accomplies dans un Etat tiers par un ressortissant d’un second Etat membre lorsque, en présence des mêmes conditions de cotisation, lesdites autorités compétentes reconnaissent, à la suite d’une convention internationale bilatérale conclue entre le premier Etat membre et l’Etat tiers, la prise en compte de telles périodes accomplies par leurs propres ressortissants”. But where no bilateral convention between France and the third State provides for three-way aggregation, the Court approved the refusal, noting “la cour d’appel en a exactement déduit qu’un ressortissant français qui aurait travaillé en France, à Monaco et dans un autre Etat membre de l’Union ne pourrait pas cumuler les périodes d’assurances acquises dans les trois Etats”. The lesson is practical: claim aggregation where the instruments allow it, with certificates from each scheme, and do not assume that every foreign quarter automatically tops up your French pension (pension de vieillesse, the French old-age pension paid by the CARSAT, the regional retirement fund).

II. How to Declare Your UK Pensions, Keep Your Healthcare Cover and Challenge a Double Bill After Brexit

Knowing which country taxes which pension is only half the battle. The other half is paperwork: stopping British withholding where France has the exclusive right, declaring correctly in France, keeping the right health cover, and reacting fast when a bill is wrong. Do these steps in order and most double taxation never happens.

A. Stop UK Withholding and Declare in France — Form France-Individual, Returns 2042 and 2047, Deadlines and Proof

For State and private pensions taxable only in France, the official procedure runs through your local French tax office and HMRC. The French tax administration’s published doctrine states the current rule plainly: since 1 January 2012, exemption from British withholding on British-source interest, royalties and private pensions follows a set treaty-claim procedure. You — or your representative — complete a Form France-Individual (one claim per British pension payer), in both languages, and file it with the Centre des finances publiques (your local public finance centre) of your French home. The doctrine describes the control: the local tax office checks whether the treaty conditions for certifying the claim are met and, where the claim is well founded, where the claim is well founded, the office certifies the copy intended for the claimant. You then send the certified English copy directly to the British tax authority: The claimant then sends that certified copy directly to the British tax authority at the address shown on the form. Until HMRC processes the form, emergency or basic-rate withholding may continue; once accepted, your British pension is paid gross and France alone taxes it. Keep copies of everything with proof of posting, because if the fisc later asks why no British tax was paid, the stamped form is your answer. For government-service pensions the mirror applies: do not file this exemption claim, since the United Kingdom keeps the taxing right, and keep your P60s to prove British tax was correctly levied.

On the French side, every resident declares worldwide pensions each spring on return 2042 (the main income return, déclaration des revenus) with foreign pensions detailed on supplementary return 2047 (the schedule for income from abroad, créditant l’impôt étranger where a credit applies). Report each pension line by line: payer, country, gross amount in euros, British tax withheld. Government-service pensions go in the treaty-exempt section so they feed only the effective rate; State and private pensions go in taxable foreign pensions so the 10 per cent allowance and the scale apply. Attach nothing spontaneously beyond the forms, but hold a file the inspector (vérificateur) could request: P60s, annual pension statements, HMRC exemption acknowledgements, exchange-rate printouts, marriage or civil partnership certificates where a transfer between spouses matters, and any S1 healthcare certificate (see below). If British withholding was levied by mistake on a France-taxable pension before the exemption took effect, the treaty machinery refunds rather than forgives: the published doctrine provides that repayment of excess French withholding down to the treaty rate can be claimed from the administration up to 31 December of the second year following payment of the levy to the French Treasury. That 31 December of the second following year is a hard limitation date (délai de réclamation, the deadline for contentious claims): miss it and the overpaid French levy becomes final. File the reclaim (réclamation contentieuse, the formal challenge to a tax bill) with the British withholding evidence annexed, and expressly cite the treaty article — Article 17 for private pensions — so the file reaches the treaty desk instead of the standard queue.

B. S1 Healthcare, French Social Charges and How to Challenge When Both Countries Tax the Same Pension

Income tax is not the only levy. France adds social charges (prélèvements sociaux) — principally the general social contribution (CSG, contribution sociale généralisée) and the contribution for the repayment of the social debt (CRDS, contribution pour le remboursement de la dette sociale) — and the wrong health cover can add thousands of euros to your bill. The statute draws the line by health affiliation, not by nationality. Article L136-1 of the Social Security Code (Code de la sécurité sociale) provides: “Il est institué une contribution sociale sur les revenus d’activité et sur les revenus de remplacement à laquelle sont assujettis : 1° Les personnes physiques qui sont à la fois considérées comme domiciliées en France pour l’établissement de l’impôt sur le revenu et à la charge, à quelque titre que ce soit, d’un régime obligatoire français d’assurance maladie ;” Pensions are replacement income (revenus de remplacement), so CSG and CRDS bite only if you are both French tax resident and covered (à la charge) by a compulsory French health scheme. The exemption for internationally covered residents is written into Article L136-6: “Par dérogation aux I et I bis, ne sont pas redevables de la contribution les personnes qui, par application des dispositions du règlement (CE) n° 883/2004 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 29 avril 2004 sur la coordination des systèmes de sécurité sociale, relèvent en matière d’assurance maladie d’une législation soumise à ces dispositions et qui ne sont pas à la charge d’un régime obligatoire de sécurité sociale français.” In practice this is the S1 divide. If you draw a UK State Pension and hold an S1 certificate (the portable document proving the United Kingdom remains competent for your healthcare while France provides treatment), you are not à la charge of the French scheme: no CSG, no CRDS on the pension, and treatment in France on presentation of the S1 at the local health fund (CPAM, caisse primaire d’assurance maladie). If instead you are affiliated to French universal cover (PUMa, protection universelle maladie) — typically early retirees with no UK State Pension yet — you are à la charge of the French scheme and the charges apply. Register the S1 with the CPAM the month you arrive, keep the CPAM attestation (attestation de droits) with your tax file, and re-check the position the year your UK State Pension starts, because many clients move from PUMa to S1 mid-retirement and forget to tell the fisc.

The single-legislation principle behind the S1 is enforced strictly by the courts, which is why cover must be regularised promptly. The Cour de cassation recalled the transitional machinery of Article 87(8) of Regulation 883/2004 — “Vu l’article 87, § 8, du règlement (CE) n° 883/2004 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 29 avril 2004 sur la coordination des systèmes de sécurité sociale” (Second Civil Chamber, 29 May 2019, appeal no. 18-13.679) — under which a person who becomes subject to a different legislation upon the new regulation’s application keeps the old one for a transitional period unless a timely option is filed, with radiation (removal from the scheme) taking effect only “le premier jour du mois suivant” the request. And an earlier ruling fixed the estoppel-style limit on contradicting one’s own affiliation steps (Second Civil Chamber, 15 March 2018, appeal no. 17-21.991): the plea that no one may contradict themselves to another’s detriment sanctions only “l’attitude procédurale consistant pour une partie, au cours d’une même instance, à adopter des positions contraires ou incompatibles entre elles dans des conditions qui induisent en erreur son adversaire sur ses intentions”. Translated into advice: file one coherent position — S1 with the CPAM or PUMa affiliation — from day one, date every request, and do not accumulate overlapping cover hoping to choose later, because arrears and back-charges follow the paper trail, not your preference.

When a double bill lands despite all this, challenge methodically and on paper. First, identify the error precisely: French income tax on a government-service pension that Article 18 reserves to the United Kingdom; British withholding on a State or private pension that Article 17 reserves to France; CSG and CRDS charged while a valid S1 proves you were not à la charge of the French scheme; or a missing 10 per cent allowance under Article 158. Second, assemble the bundle: the French assessment (avis d’imposition, the tax bill), the British P60 and pension statements, the stamped Form France-Individual or its HMRC acknowledgement, the S1 and CPAM attestation, and the exchange-rate sheet. Third, file a formal réclamation with the French tax office before the limitation date, article by article — treaty article, Code article, regulation article — and separately pursue the British side through HMRC’s double-taxation claim route, since each treasury refunds only its own overcharge. Fourth, if the French reply is a refusal or six months of silence (which counts as an implicit refusal, décision implicite de rejet), take the case to the administrative court (tribunal administratif) within two months of the express or implied decision. Throughout, cite the official texts by name and number rather than by summary: the treaty article number carries more weight than a general reference to the treaty, and a dated S1 beats a narrative about where you feel insured. For mixed working lives, add the aggregation certificates from each pension authority so the judge sees totalised quarters rather than an unexplained gap, recalling that pre-2021 periods remain protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and later periods by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, as Cleiss confirms for both eligibility and calculation.

Conclusion

Retiring to France with British pensions is a sorting exercise with real money behind it. Government-service pensions — civil service, teachers, NHS, police, forces — belong to the United Kingdom under Article 18, subject only to the dual-nationality exception, while the UK State Pension and private workplace and personal pensions belong to France under Article 17 once you are French tax resident, with Article 23 eliminating the double charge. France measures those pensions through Articles 79, 82 and 158 of its Tax Code, including the 10 per cent allowance, and levies CSG and CRDS only on residents covered by a compulsory French health scheme — which is why the S1 certificate matters as much as any tax form. The Form France-Individual procedure stops British withholding at source, returns 2042 and 2047 declare the pensions in France, and the 31 December of the second following year caps any reclaim. Aggregation across British and French careers survives Brexit through the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, but only documented quarters count, and the Cour de cassation enforces each instrument’s limits exactly. Sort each pension into its box on arrival, file the S1 and the treaty forms the same season, keep every P60 and attestation, and challenge any double bill article by article within the deadline. Done in that order, a British retirement in France is taxed once, in the right country, at the right rate — and any bill that says otherwise can be answered with the texts themselves.

Need a quick opinion on your case.

Our Paris office advises British retirees and future retirees in France every week on government-service pensions, State and private pensions, S1 registration and double-tax reclaims. You can obtain a telephone consultation within 48 hours with an advocate (avocat, member of the Paris Bar) of the firm. Call +33 6 46 60 58 22 or write via our contact page. For background on related pension-transfer issues, see our guide on British retirees, QROPS transfers and the 25 per cent charge.