There will be many things to do in arranging a move to France and a lot of people to tell. The first people to inform are:

1) The UK tax authorities of your departure

2) The French tax authorities of your intention to live permanently in France

What to do before leaving the UK

Let HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) know of your likely departure date from the UK. Although this is not mandatory, it indicates to HMRC your likely residence status after your departure

To do this you will have to obtain a Form P85 from your local tax office or download one from www.hmrc.gov.uk

Any UK government service pensions will remain taxable only in the UK and will not be directly taxed in France. Your UK state retirement pension is always paid gross. For personal pensions and any non-government source occupational pensions, UK pension providers will continue to deduct UK tax at source until HMRC are satisfied that you are French tax resident and liable to French tax on this income. Once HMRC are so satisfied, they will advise the pension provider to pay the income to you gross and will make a repayment of any UK tax deducted at source. In order to arrange this, you should obtain Form France/Individual from HMRC which can also be downloaded from www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/franceindividual.pdf

This form is usually submitted to the French authorities together with your first French tax return. If you retain any UK bank accounts, the bank interest will only be taxable in France. In order to receive your UK bank interest gross you can submit a Form R105 to your bank or building society. Not all banks will pay interest gross and it usually depends on the type of account you have. Form R105 can also be obtained from HMRC or downloaded from the website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/r105.pdf    

If you have any continuing UK rental income when you are in France, you can usually arrange for your UK rental income to be paid gross to you. You can do this by submitting Form NRL1 to Charity, Assets & Residence – Residency, NRLS Processing, St John’s House, Merton Road, Bootle, Merseyside L69 9BB. Form NRL1 can also be downloaded from www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/nrl1.pdf 

You will need to let your pension providers, including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), know of your new address and make arrangements for any change in where the pension is to be paid, ie bank account. UK state pension can also be paid directly into your French bank account. If you are moving to France before reaching the UK state retirement age, you should apply for a pension forecast to determine whether you have made sufficient contributions to receive a full state pension. It can be dealt with over the telephone by calling 0845 3000 168. Alternatively, you can obtain Form BR19 from your local DWP Social Security office or fill in the form from the DWP website www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/br19/home.asp

If you have not made sufficient contributions for a full UK state retirement pension, it is possible to make top-up contributions to increase your pension entitlement by paying voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 National Insurance contributions in the UK after you have moved to France. You are entitled to French state health-care cover if you hold either Form E106 or Form E121. Form E106 is available if you are under UK state pension age and you have made full Class 1 or 2 UK NI contributions as an employee or self-employed person in the two UK tax years prior to your departure from the UK and it is valid for up to two-and-a-half years after leaving the UK. If you are already in receipt of a UK state retirement pension (or certain long-term benefits such as long-term incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, bereavement benefits or widow’s benefits) you can obtain a Form E121 in order to register with the French health-care system, the CMU (Couverture Maladie Universelle). Both forms will provide health-care cover on a household basis.

What to do after arriving in France

It is your responsibility to make yourself known to the French tax authorities and to fully declare your income, capital gains and wealth. The taxes are administered by over 120,000 tax agents as part of the Ministry of Finance (Ministre de l’Economie et des Finances). You should ascertain the whereabouts of the local tax office (Hôtel des Impôts) in order to file your tax return. Bear in mind that the French tax year runs from 1 January to 31 December and tax returns should be made by 31 May of the following year. If you have either Form E121 or Form E106 you will have to locate your local CPAM (Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie) office to submit the form to have access to French state health care. The CMU does not cover the full cost of French health care and it is advisable to take out top-up insurance so that you do not have to pay any shortfall yourself.