British in France: The Complete Pensions, ISA & Money Guide

Brits are France's largest anglophone community — and the most under-advised. Your situation sits in a strange middle: no US-style tax shadow follows you, but your financial life was built around wrappers (ISAs, pension freedoms, Premium Bonds) that France simply doesn't recognise, and two systems' worth of rules meet in your kitchen. The good news: every one of those collisions has a known, legal answer — and most of them are cheaper to fix before events than after. Here's the complete map.

Your UK pensions in France: who taxes what

The 2008 UK-France treaty draws a clean line — verified on the treaty text itself:

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The practical must-do: file the France-UK treaty form so HMRC authorises gross payment of your French-taxable pensions — otherwise you'll chase UK refunds every year while also paying France.

The 25% lump sum: the £100,000 decision 💷

In the UK, taking 25% of your pension tax-free (up to £268,275) is a national sport. In France, that same withdrawal is taxable income — the UK exemption doesn't cross the Channel with you.

France does offer a consolation prize: a 7.5% flat levy on pension capital (computed after a 10% allowance — roughly 6.75% effective). But its conditions are strict and widely misunderstood: the payment must not be split and must settle your pension rights. Taking just the 25% and leaving the rest in drawdown — the standard UK move — generally doesn't qualify, pushing the withdrawal to the progressive scale instead.

ISAs, Premium Bonds & UK savings: the wrapper problem

Here's the pattern for every UK tax wrapper: the account survives the move; its magic doesn't.

• ISAs: France ignores the wrapper — dividends, interest and gains inside become French-taxable (flat 31.4% by default since 2026), and as a non-UK resident you can't add new money. The ISA becomes an ordinary account wearing a costume.
• Premium Bonds: winnings are tax-free in the UK, taxable income in France — and the expected return is poor anyway. Usually first out the door.
• UK savings interest: taxable in France (with treaty mechanics), declared annually.
• The paperwork: every UK account and policy goes on form 3916 with your French return, every year — €1,500 fine per forgotten account. It's a disclosure, not a tax, but it's the #1 filing mistake Brits make here.

The strategy is rarely "sell everything on day one" — it's a planned migration: run down the dead wrappers at a tax-smart pace, and rebuild inside the wrappers France actually rewards (below).

QROPS in 2026: the party's over 🎈

A decade ago, half the expat advisors on the Riviera sold QROPS transfers (often via Malta or Gibraltar, often with generous commissions). The 2024 Budget ended the era: since 30 October 2024, transfers to EEA QROPS lost their exemption from the 25% Overseas Transfer Charge — the charge now applies unless you live in the same country as the scheme. There is no French QROPS. Verdict:

• Thinking of a new QROPS transfer? Almost certainly no. Keep the SIPP in the UK and draw under the treaty — simpler, cheaper, cleaner.
• Already holding a QROPS? The question is how to exit intelligently: jurisdiction, fees (often the real problem), exit penalties, and the French tax treatment of what comes out (the 7.5% capital option has the same strict conditions as above). This is a "documents on the table" analysis with a cross-border specialist — I coordinate it; nobody should rush you.

The S1: Britain's parting gift 🎁

If you receive the UK State Pension and live in France, the S1 form is quietly one of the best deals in European retirement:

• The UK funds your French state healthcare — you register the S1 and get the same coverage as any French resident (top it up with an inexpensive mutuelle).
• The hidden bonus almost everyone misses: if you are covered by a compulsory UK (or other EEA/Swiss) social security scheme and not covered by a compulsory French scheme, you are exempt from CSG and CRDS on capital income — you pay only the 7.5% solidarity levy instead of the full rate (18.6% on most investment income in 2026; 17.2% on assurance vie and unfurnished rental income, which kept the old rate). Brexit did not take this away: impots.gouv.fr states explicitly that British residents continue to benefit from the CSG/CRDS exemption. On the income from a €400,000 portfolio, that difference compounds into serious money. Tick boxes 8SH/8SI on the return; keep the S1 as proof.

Source: impots.gouv.fr — Liability for social security contributions and the social levy: people affiliated to a compulsory non-French EEA, Swiss or UK scheme are exempt from CSG/CRDS but remain liable for the 7.5% solidarity levy; British residents keep the exemption after Brexit · impots.gouv.fr — 17.2% vs 18.6% social levy rates (accessed July 2026)

UK State Pensioner in France without an S1 registered? That's priority one — before any investment conversation.

National Insurance top-ups: the best deal in retirement 📈

You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance for the full new State Pension (£241.30/week in 2026/27 — about £12,548/year), and at least 10 years for any pension at all. Living in France doesn't stop you from filling the gaps:

• Voluntary contributions from abroad are allowed — and where Class 2 rates apply, a year costs a few hundred pounds for thousands of pounds of lifetime pension. It's routinely the highest-return "investment" in a British retiree's file.
• Check your forecast in two minutes at gov.uk/check-state-pension, then run the maths before the April deadline each year.
• Married? Check both records — the lower-earning spouse's missing years are often the cheapest to fix and the most valuable to complete (10-year minimum for any entitlement).

Source: GOV.UK — The new State Pension: what you'll get (£241.30 per week, 35 qualifying years for the full rate) (accessed July 2026)

Inheritance: the 2025 reform changed the game ⚖️

For decades, British expats worried about UK inheritance tax following them forever via "domicile". That world ended on 6 April 2025:

• UK IHT is now residence-based: your worldwide estate is in the UK net only if you were UK-resident in 10 of the last 20 tax years (with a tapered exit tail of 3–10 years). A Brit settled in France for a decade+ largely falls out of worldwide UK IHT.
• ⚠️ Assets physically in the UK — property, bank accounts, ISAs — always stay within UK IHT (40% above the £325,000 nil-rate band). One more argument for the planned migration of UK assets.
• Meanwhile, French inheritance tax applies in full to French residents: children get €100,000 each then progressive rates up to 45%, and an unmarried partner pays 60%. The rare 1963 France-UK inheritance treaty arbitrates the overlaps.

Source: GOV.UK — Inheritance Tax (£325,000 nil-rate band, 40% standard rate) · impots.gouv.fr — Calculating French inheritance tax (€100,000 per child, up to 45% in direct line, 60% for non-relatives) (accessed July 2026)

Translation: the planning centre of gravity has moved to France — assurance vie (€152,500 per beneficiary tax-free, but only for premiums paid before your 70th birthday; premiums paid after 70 share a single €30,500 allowance and are then taxed as part of the estate), marriage/PACS status, and coordinated wills with a choice of English law for the civil side where useful. The full playbook is in the French inheritance guide — including a calculator to see what your family would pay today.

Source: Légifrance — Article 990 I CGI (€152,500 per beneficiary, premiums paid before age 70) · Article 757 B CGI (premiums paid after age 70: one shared €30,500 allowance) (accessed July 2026)

Source: impots.gouv.fr — Capital gains on property (non-residents): the €150,000 exemption is reserved to EU/EEA residents; 19% withholding plus social levies otherwise (accessed July 2026)

Rebuilding in French wrappers 🧰

Every euro that leaves a dead UK wrapper deserves a living French one:

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Your UK assets: keep / review / stop 🚦

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Written by Vincent Auvrignon

Independent financial advisor (CGP) in France — CIF, IOBSP, COA, ORIAS n°25004390, member of CNCEF. I spent 12 years abroad myself and work with British clients across France — from Brittany buy-to-lets to Riviera retirements. Every fact on this page traces to an official source (the treaty text, gov.uk, Légifrance). More about working with me →