Prendre ma retraite française en Italie

Bonjour

J’avais un projet de prendre ma retraite française en Italie, mais j’ai très peur Voir ci-dessus que j’ai lu sur plusieurs endroits :

hi Alberto it seems not good to move to italy since 2021: SEE THIS/

an elderly man in a jacket on his flowery balcony - mihaly-koles-unsplash

Unsplash (Mihaly Koles)

Written by Marie-Astrid Roy

Published on May 2, 2023, updated on February 12, 2024

French retirees residing in Italy, who have been victims of tax adjustments by the Italian tax authorities for many months, have created a Collective "for European tax equity" in order to draw the attention of the French government to the unexpected interpretation of the tax treaty between France and Italy, or at least the compulsory schemes to which they are subject.

French retirees in Italy are uniting to be better heard. Several of them, residing from the North to the South of Italy and receiving French pensions paid under compulsory schemes, have been subject for several months to unexpected tax adjustments by the Italian tax authorities on their French retirement in addition to their French taxation, all accompanied by sanctions and interest over the last five years.

After seizing the advisors of the French abroad in Italy, these retirees organize themselves into a Collective "for European tax fairness". Their goal: "to draw the attention of the French government to the moral and financial damages resulting from it and to ask it to clarify this situation as soon as possible with the competent Italian authorities in this area," says the Collectif des retraités français d'Italie.

To do this, this Collective represented by its spokesman Jean-Claude Charles, himself residing in Sicily, launched an online petition addressed to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire and the Minister of Action and Public Accounts Gabriel Attal, as well as Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in charge of Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and French people abroad. To date, the petition collects nearly 240 signatures.

"There is an urgent need, several French retirees will have their home seized in Italy because they do not have the financial means or to pay the taxes due or to start a long and expensive legal procedure," worries Jean-Claude Charles about the lack of support from the French State in this unexpected situation.

France-Italy Bilateral Tax Convention

There is indeed a France-Italy bilateral tax agreement, signed on October 5, 1989 and entered into force on January 1, 1992, in order to avoid double taxation in income taxes.

For each income category - especially for pensions - it distributes the tax duty of each country and provides for mechanisms for eliminating double taxation.

Articles 18 and 19, what does the Tax Convention say?

Articles 18 and 19 of the Convention lay down the distribution of the right to tax between the State of origin and the State of residence for retirement pensions.

Article 18 provides that "pensions and other similar remuneration, paid to a resident of a State in respect of a previous job are taxable only in that State" and that "pensions and other sums paid under the social security legislation of a State are taxable in that State. »

According to Article 19: "The pensions paid by a State or one of its political or administrative subdivisions or local authorities (in the case of Italy) or local authorities (in the case of France) to a natural person, in respect of services rendered to that State, or to this subdivision or collective, are taxable only in that State. »

How is the Tax Convention between France and Italy interpreted?

Until 2021, French people residing in Italy and receiveing a pension under a compulsory social security scheme were taxable in France.

Since 2021, Italian residents receive French pensions paid under compulsory schemes have been required by the Italian tax authorities to pay taxes on their French retirement in addition to their French taxation, all accompanied by sanctions and interest. They are the subject of an unprecedented interpretation of the tax convention and more particularly of compulsory regimes.

In order to clarify the situation, several elected officials sent written questions and letters to the Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts, such as the Senator of the French living outside France Evelyne Renaud-Garabedian and the deputy for the 8th constituency of the French Abroad Meyer Habib.

The advisors of the French Abroad also seized the problem by questioning the government several times. Without a response deemed "satisfactory", Alexandre Bezardin, advisor to the French abroad (district of Northern Italy) and vice-president of the Assembly of French Abroad, insists on "the seriousness of the situation that affects poor and elderly people" and accuses of "a total abandonment of the French authorities".

During the March 2022 session of the Assembly of French Abroad, Annie Rea, Councillor of the French Abroad for the Northern Italy constituency and president of the Solidarity and Independent Group, again questioned the government on this issue. The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economy and Finance replied that "in accordance with Article 18(2) of the above-mentioned Convention, social security pensions, when paid in respect of a previous private employment, are subject to shared and non-exclusive taxation".

In practice, this means that when a resident of a State receives a pension under a social security scheme of the other State where it is taxable in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, the State of residence of the pension recipient has, according to the provisions of the agreement, the right to tax them second.

This shared and non-exclusive taxation rule has only been applied recently. However, the Italian tax authority has also applied it retroactively, for the years still included in the 6-year limitation period (compared to 3 years in France) and for which it can still act, accompanied by heavy penalties for the retirees concerned.

Annie Rea gives the example of a French resident in Italy, receiving a French pension of €25,000: "His taxes in France amount to €900, in Italy €6,000, which become €9,000 with sanctions and interest for each year since 2015, because the Italian tax authorities only "strike" within the limit of limitation (6 years) to collect the maximum. A slate of €54,000 for 6-year-olds. »

Towards a renegotiation of the Bilateral Tax Convention between France and Italy?

A similar problem occurred with French residents in Greece in 2018. A new tax treaty between France and Greece was signed on May 11, 2022 in Athens to eliminate double taxation in income taxes. The convention was ratified by the Greek Parliament on October 20. In France, the ratification procedure is underway.

The Collective of French Pensioners in Italy hopes to achieve the same goals. In the meantime, a possible negotiation between the authorities of the two countries, a moratorium has been requested for the years 2015-2021 on the taxation of French pensions of Italian residents. To date, without an answer.

MAR.

Written by Marie-Astrid Roy

Published on May 2, 2023, updated on February 12, 2024