Many British pensioners living in France are surprised to see French social charges deducted from a UK State Pension, an occupational pension or a personal pension. The abbreviations are unfamiliar: the contribution sociale g\u00e9n\u00e9ralis\u00e9e (CSG) is the general social contribution, the contribution au remboursement de la dette sociale (CRDS) finances the repayment of France\u2019s social-security debt, and the contribution additionnelle de solidarit\u00e9 pour l\u2019autonomie (CASA) contributes to care for older and disabled people. A deduction from a UK pension is not automatically lawful, but a British passport, a UK bank account or payment by a UK pension provider does not by itself create an exemption.<\/p>\n
The decisive questions are usually separate from the income-tax question. Are you tax-resident in France? Are you financially attached to a French compulsory health-insurance scheme, or is your healthcare funded by the United Kingdom under a registered S1? What kind of pension is being paid? Has the pension been included in the UK tax base so that the France\u2013UK treaty can support a credit? Finally, was the charge assessed under the correct rate and within the correct period?<\/p>\n
This article sets out the legal test, the 2026 rates, the effect of an S1, the distinction between a private and a government-service pension, and the evidence needed to seek an exemption or restitution. It also explains why the French Brexit guidance on social charges on property income must not be copied mechanically onto pension income.<\/p>\n
The starting point is not the country from which the money is transferred. It is the category of income and the person\u2019s connection with French health insurance. Article L. 136-1 of the French Social Security Code places replacement income within the CSG regime when the statutory conditions are met. The operative text states: \u00ab Il est institu\u00e9 une contribution sociale sur les revenus d’activit\u00e9 et sur les revenus de remplacement \u00e0 laquelle sont assujettis : 1\u00b0 Les personnes physiques qui sont \u00e0 la fois consid\u00e9r\u00e9es comme domicili\u00e9es en France pour l’\u00e9tablissement de l’imp\u00f4t sur le revenu et \u00e0 la charge, \u00e0 quelque titre que ce soit, d’un r\u00e9gime obligatoire fran\u00e7ais d’assurance maladie ; \u00bb. The full provision is available in Article L. 136-1 of the French Social Security Code<\/a>.<\/p>\n This creates two cumulative questions:<\/p>\n Both limbs matter. A long-stay visa, a Withdrawal Agreement residence card, a French home or a French tax number may indicate that you are living or taxable in France, but none of those facts alone answers the health-insurance limb. Conversely, a person who is not tax-resident in France is not dealt with in the same way as a French resident, even if a French pension or another French payment is involved. Nationality is not the statutory test.<\/p>\n The French tax administration\u2019s own explanation of foreign-source retirement pensions confirms this method. The official BOFiP document asks about a person who has a French tax domicile, is covered by a compulsory health-insurance scheme in France and also receives a French pension. It concludes: \u00ab L’assujettissement aux contributions sociales des pensions de retraite est donc subordonn\u00e9 \u00e0 un double crit\u00e8re, tenant, d’une part, \u00e0 la domiciliation fiscale en France et, d’autre part, \u00e0 l’affiliation en mati\u00e8re de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale. \u00bb Read the official clarification in BOFiP, foreign-source retirement pensions and social contributions<\/a>. For the wider residence, declaration and treaty framework, see the related guide to UK pensions in France after Brexit<\/a>.<\/p>\n That is why the following situations can produce different answers for two British couples living in the same French village:<\/p>\n The official GOV.UK guidance on healthcare in France<\/a> states that a person resident in France and receiving a UK State Pension or another qualifying exportable benefit may be entitled to UK-funded healthcare, and that the S1 must be registered with the local CPAM. Once registered, the holder and eligible dependants receive healthcare in France on the same basis as a French citizen. That healthcare entitlement and the social-charge consequence are closely connected, but the tax claim still requires proof of the actual status for the relevant years.<\/p>\n The S1 should therefore be treated as an evidential document, not as a slogan. The file should show who issued it, the period covered, the date of registration, the CPAM acknowledgement and whether a different French affiliation began later. If the S1 was issued after the French charges were assessed, the claimant should explain whether it confirms a pre-existing entitlement or only starts from the date of issue. A later document may be persuasive, but it cannot automatically rewrite every earlier year without a factual and legal explanation.<\/p>\n A further distinction is essential after Brexit. The French government\u2019s official Brexit tax FAQ<\/a> discusses an exemption from CSG and CRDS for certain UK-affiliated persons on French-source property income, while retaining a 7.5% solidarity levy on that property income. That page concerns the provisions governing income from property and investment income. It should not be transposed to pension income, which is governed by the replacement-income provisions of the Social Security Code. A British owner who has obtained relief on rental income or a property gain has not thereby proved that the same relief applies to a UK pension.<\/p>\n The practical first conclusion is therefore narrow but useful: if you are French tax-resident and genuinely at the charge of the French compulsory health-insurance system, UK origin does not by itself remove CSG, CRDS or CASA. If you are French tax-resident but healthcare remains legally funded by the United Kingdom and the S1 evidence is complete, there may be a route to exemption and recovery. The exact pension type and the assessment route must then be checked.<\/p>\n Social charges and income tax must be analysed in parallel, not confused. The 2008 UK\u2013France Double Taxation Convention<\/a> contains a pensions article and a government-service article. Article 18 provides that pensions and similar remuneration for past employment are taxable only in the state of residence, subject to Article 19. Article 19 contains special rules for pensions paid by, or from funds created by, a state or local authority for government service. The pension provider\u2019s label is not enough: the legal origin of the pension, the service that generated it and any exception in the treaty must be identified.<\/p>\n For a typical UK private pension or State Pension, Article 18 is the starting point for income tax. France may be the country entitled to tax the pension as the resident state. The French tax administration\u2019s pension guidance<\/a> advises a taxpayer to establish whether the payment is a private, social-security or public pension and then consult the treaty or Form 2041-E. The current 2026 Form 2041-E<\/a> is the practical declaration document for relevant international pension situations.<\/p>\n That allocation of income tax does not automatically erase French social charges. CSG and CRDS are linked to the French social-security rules and, in some cases, are treated as part of the \u201cFrench tax\u201d for treaty-credit purposes. The Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat gave an important answer in an official opinion concerning the France\u2013UK Convention: Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 9th and 10th chambers reunited, 12 February 2020, no. 435907<\/a>. The case concerned French residents and UK-source income; it is not a blanket pension exemption, but it is directly relevant to the treaty-credit analysis.<\/p>\n The Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat held that the French contributions were within the treaty\u2019s French-tax definition and stated: \u00ab En revanche, cette condition n’exige pas que les revenus en cause aient \u00e9t\u00e9 soumis \u00e0 une imposition effective. \u00bb It also held that the relevant income must be included in the base of a UK tax covered by the Convention, without requiring that UK tax was actually paid after allowances or other relief. The decision\u2019s operative guidance is that evidence of inclusion in the UK tax base may matter even where the UK calculation ends with no tax payable.<\/p>\n That route is different from an S1 exemption. A treaty credit generally assumes that French contributions are otherwise chargeable and asks whether a credit can offset the French tax attributable to the relevant income. An S1-based argument says that the French social-charge conditions are not met because the person is not at the charge of a French compulsory health-insurance scheme. One route seeks not to owe the charge; the other accepts the assessment provisionally but seeks relief through the treaty mechanism. A claim should present them in the correct order and with the correct evidence.<\/p>\n The distinction is particularly important for government-service pensions. If a former UK civil servant, police officer, teacher or armed-forces member receives a pension falling within Article 19, the income-tax taxing right may remain with the United Kingdom, subject to the treaty\u2019s nationality and other conditions. The fact that France does not tax the pension as ordinary income does not automatically determine CSG or CRDS. However, evidence that the pension was included in the UK tax base can be central to a treaty-credit claim under Article 24. The GOV.UK guidance on tax when living abroad<\/a> likewise warns that the country of residence and the UK may both appear in the analysis and directs the taxpayer to the applicable treaty.<\/p>\n The French courts have repeatedly warned that foreign source is not an automatic defence. In Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 8th and 3rd chambers reunited, 25 October 2024, no. 473997<\/a>, concerning Swiss pension income, the court considered the coordination of social-security legislation and stated that the relevant rules do not prevent the competent state from assessing contributions on the total pensions received from two or more states in the circumstances examined. The decision is not a UK judgment and must not be presented as one. It is useful because it shows why a claimant must establish the applicable healthcare legislation and cannot rely only on the foreign bank statement.<\/p>\n The follow-up judgment, CAA Lyon, 5th chamber, 13 August 2025, no. 24LY03019<\/a>, rejected the claim after remittal and examined whether the claimant was subject to French legislation because she resided in France, received a French pension and benefited from French social-security services. A later illustrative decision, CAA Nancy, 2nd chamber, 29 January 2026, no. 24NC00714<\/a>, likewise dealt with Swiss replacement income and the need to prove the relevant foreign affiliation and prior contributions. These cases do not decide the position of every British pensioner; they show the evidential discipline expected when foreign pensions and social contributions meet.<\/p>\n There is also a rate question. Under the current wording of Article L. 136-8 of the Social Security Code<\/a>, \u00ab Sont assujetties \u00e0 la contribution au taux de 8,3 % les pensions de retraite, et les pensions d’invalidit\u00e9. \u00bb That is the normal CSG rate when the relevant income and household thresholds are met. The statute also creates reduced rates, and the official 2026 public-service table applies the household\u2019s revenu fiscal de r\u00e9f\u00e9rence (RFR), meaning the reference tax income, and the number of tax shares.<\/p>\n For 2026, the official table uses the 2024 RFR shown on the 2025 tax notice. For one tax share, the published bands are: up to \u20ac13,048 for the zero rate; \u20ac13,049 to \u20ac17,057 for the reduced CSG rate; \u20ac17,058 to \u20ac26,472 for the median rate; and above \u20ac26,472 for the normal rate. The exact table must be checked for the household\u2019s number of shares and overseas department. The Service-Public pension table<\/a> also records the practical transition rule: moving from the reduced rate to a higher rate can depend on exceeding the relevant ceiling for two consecutive years.<\/p>\n The four outcomes for a pension subject to the French regime are normally described as follows:<\/p>\n\n
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B. How do the UK-France tax treaty and the pension category alter the result?<\/h3>\n