Fiscal residency is matter of fact and not of choice. As a French fiscal resident, all assets worldwide have to be declared if above the threshold and, as a non-French fiscal resident, only the value of assets in France have to be declared. Assets abroad should, per the letter of the law, be converted into Euros at the official exchange rate on the the assessable date for Wealth Tax, the 1st January 2008.

This exchange rate was UNAVAILABLE AS YET to the 1 GBP.

As a French fiscal resident, there is a reduction of 30% of the value of the French home.

Please contact us for details of how valuations of certain assets are to be effected.

Fiscal residency is matter of fact and not of choice. As a French fiscal resident, all assets worldwide fall within the estate of a deceased.

In France, it is the beneficiary that is liable to inheritance tax on the value of what is inherited, and whether the deceased or the beneficiary was a French fiscal resident at the time of death. The implication of this is that beneficiaries who are fiscal residents of countries other than France, for example the UK, still fall under French inheritance laws.

The issue of French inheritance and successions is complicated by virtue of the basic law, and additional elements of the law such as the ‘Tontine clause’, marriage regimes, inter-spouse donations and so on, so please contact us for further details.

Assets abroad at the time of death should, per the letter of the law, be converted into Euros at the date of death.

Please note that, further to a change in the law as from 1st January 2008, all inter-spouse inheritances are now exempt from Inheritance Tax irrespective of the marriage regime between spouses, as are those between partners under a French 'Pacte Civil de Solidarité'. This does not, however, remove the need for marriage regimes for the purpose of alleviating civil law restrictions, and, other than for spouses with the appropriate marriage regime, lifetime gifts between other spouses or PACS’d partners remain taxable.

Fiscal residency is matter of fact and not of choice. As a French fiscal resident, all French taxable income and capital gains worldwide fall within the scope of the charge.

There are three individual charges, collectively referred to as the 'Social Charges'. They are:

• The 'Charge Sociale Généralisée'
• The 'Contribution pour la réduction de la dette sociale'
• The 'Prélèvement Sociale'

They are not to be confused with the additional healthcare charge, or the additional charges relative to employment or self-employment.

Rather than consider their rates individually, it is more practical to consider their total rate on all investment income (dividend and interest), rental income, and capital gains. This is currently at 11%.

Other rates do apply for employees and pensions income, but please contact us for further details as exceptions do apply. Indeed, one such exception is that if in receipt of a state old age pension, due to which the healthcare E121 certificate can be obtained, all pension income —only — is exempt from the social charges.

Fiscal residency is matter of fact and not of choice. However, due to changes in French immigration laws, two conditions now apply from the 1st December 2007 before fiscal residency can be obtained:

• being able to financially support oneself and one’s family
• not being a drain on the French state system (health, income support, etc.)

The French health system has additionally instigated the requirement that no state healthcare will be provided for a period of 5 years since French residency began, this being effective from the 1st december 2007.

The French healthcare system can best be described as a partial refund of costs expended by the patient in a private enterprise healthcare market, but access to the system itself is contributory. Whilst several exemptions exist to prevent having to pay to belong the system itself, the main exemptions fall under:

• the E106 certificate — which is valid for a maximum period of two years since having stopped work (in the UK).
• the E121 certificate — which is obtainable if in receipt of a state old age pension.

All new residents since the 1st December 2007 who are not in possession of either of these certificates (or after the E106 has expired) will not be able to access the French health system.

Accordingly, you have the choice to either belong to the state health system, or have private insurance cover. Please also be informed that private cover that copies the standard state system can in fact be cheaper than paying the 8% to belong to the state system.