Why am I suddenly being charged withholding tax in France?
Upcoming instalments can be viewed through personal space of French tax site
Some foreign pensions can be taxed by France, though should be exempt from social charges for holders of S1 forms
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock
Reader Question: I have lived in France for several years and submitted annual tax returns without any problem apart from incorrect social charges having been applied (corrected on showing my S1 form). However, I am now being charged withholding tax at 3.2% payable monthly and wonder if this is correct, given that I am only receiving UK pensions and a small amount of interest from French bank accounts.
It is likely that this relates to instalments of tax-at-source being taken off the bank account designated for your tax household (a ‘flat tax’ is typically taken directly at source on taxable bank interest).
Unless your pensions are solely kinds that are not assessable for French tax, such as UK government pensions, as a French resident your foreign pensions can be taxed by France, though should be exempt from social charges for holders of S1 forms.
When regular foreign incomes have been declared previously, it is normal for the tax office to take off monthly instalments moving forward based on tax you paid previously.
These are recalculated as of September each year, based on the latest declaration. If you are found later to have overpaid or underpaid after 2025’s incomes are declared, you may receive a refund or have an extra payment to make.
You can see the instalments coming up in your account the French tax website, under Gérer vos acomptes, in the Prélèvement à la source section (it refers to Revenus sans tiers collecteur, meaning incomes for which there is no known intermediary such as an employer or French pension fund that can take off tax at source).
You may click to supprimer (stop) the instalments, but usually this is done only if a related income stream has stopped.
It is also possible to click to actualiser (update) the rate applied, in case of real-time incomes having increased or dropped, which would modify the instalments.
If, however, these payments appear to be set to add up to an incorrect amount compared to what you paid on 2024 income, you could query them via a private message.
