Retiring in the Isle of Man as a French National: Residence, Taxation and Access to Care

Since 31 December 2020, citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland wishing to live, work, settle or study in the Isle of Man fall under immigration control and need an appropriate immigration status. The Isle of Man Immigration Service describes the following routes: work (Worker Migrant), visit (in principle up to six months), business and investment (Start-up and Innovator), settlement (spouse or civil partner, family member, relative providing long-term care, Manx or British ancestry), study. The pages consulted describe no category specific to retirees, nor any minimum resource requirement for a retiree: the individual situation is to be checked with the Immigration Service, which specifies that its officers give no legal advice and recommends consulting a specialist lawyer.

A visit of less than six months remains possible, with the electronic travel authorisation (ETA, £20, valid for two years) that France Diplomatie indicates for the Crown Dependencies, unless a visa or resident status is held. Schengen visas are not valid on the island. EU citizens who lived on the island before 1 January 2021 could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme until 30 June 2021. For a French retiree joining a child or spouse already established, the family settlement routes may be worth examining; see also the page living in the Isle of Man.

The BOFiP lists no double taxation treaty between France and the Isle of Man. The two States are bound by a tax information exchange agreement signed in Douglas on 26 March 2009, with a protocol, in force since 4 October 2010 (decree no. 2010-1252 of 21 October 2010). This agreement concerns assistance between administrations for income tax and other French taxes; it does not define residence and, on reading its main articles (purpose, taxes covered, definitions, exchange of information, confidentiality), provides no rule allocating the taxation of pensions comparable to the one France has concluded with Jersey. The domestic law of each State must therefore be consulted.

On the French side, according to impots.gouv.fr, tax domicile depends on the home or main place of stay, the main professional activity or the centre of economic interests; in the case of dual residence, it is a treaty that decides, none existing here. For a person who is no longer tax-domiciled in France, pensions from a French source bear a bracketed withholding tax: 0%, 12% and then 20%, at thresholds revised every year; the 0% and 12% brackets are final, the 20% withholding is credited against the tax calculated. Pensions are declared in the 1AL and following boxes of return 2042, and the withholding on form 2041-E; the updated allowance and thresholds are read on the administration's website.

On the Manx side, the tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. The personal allowance (doubled for a couple taxed jointly) and the first taxable bands, subject to the standard rate of 10%, are revised every year, then the 21% rate applies. A cap option exists for a single person. A non-resident is entitled to no allowance and bears 21%. The deduction for private medical insurance is capped, at an amount revised every year. The tax treatment of a foreign pension received by a resident of the island is not detailed in the pages consulted: it is to be checked with the Income Tax Division before departure. The social levies applied by the pension fund depend on tax residence and affiliation: to be confirmed with it. See the guide receiving your pension abroad.

The retiree's form S1 is valid within the European Union; the Isle of Man does not fall under it. The Assurance Maladie (the French national health insurance) reminds that, once settled abroad outside the European Union, the retiree is no longer covered by the French Assurance Maladie, that they must inform their fund and their pension fund of their departure, and that an assistance or insurance contract covering medical costs and repatriation is recommended. CLEISS confirms that the 1956 Franco-British convention applies to the island, without publishing a retirement section for it: entitlements to care on the basis of a French pension are to be confirmed with CLEISS before leaving.

• The island's public service (IOM NHS): funded by taxation, it is accessible to residents after registration with a GP surgery in their area; people who have reached State pension age are exempt from the £3.85 contribution per prescription item. The conditions for a new arrival to free hospital care are to be confirmed with Manx Care.
• CFE: the retiree offer has a contribution that depends on age and the plan chosen; the final cost depends on age, family situation and country. See the guide health insurance for retirees abroad.
• Private insurance: it covers the period before access to the public service, hospitalisation, medicines and repatriation, which the reciprocal health arrangement with the United Kingdom does not always provide for; expat health insurance and the assistance contract are compared on ceiling, zone and medical history.
• Stays in France: the Assurance Maladie states that a retiree of the general scheme registers with the Cnarefe (ameli-rfe.fr, CPAM of Seine-et-Marne); in the absence of an applicable convention, reimbursement is possible if they have contributed at least 15 years to French compulsory schemes. The spouse is not covered outside a convention; they join the CFE or take out private insurance.

Details by situation are on the page healthcare reimbursement in the Isle of Man.

The island's government describes the Manx State Pension, for people reaching State pension age from 6 April 2019 (born from 6 January 1954). It is paid at the full rate every week and is uprated every year. At least 10 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits, consecutive or not, are generally needed, and 35 years for the full rate; years contributed on the island, in the United Kingdom or in certain countries bound by a social security agreement with the United Kingdom can count towards the ten-year minimum, but the amount is based only on years contributed on the island. The government page cites the example of a person who worked 16 years in France: those years help meet the minimum condition, without increasing the amount.

The pension is not paid automatically: it must be claimed within twelve months of State pension age. It can be received while living in the United Kingdom or abroad and rises each April only in the United Kingdom and in countries whose agreement with the United Kingdom allows it; the Manx pension supplement is not paid for periods lived off the island. Working after State pension age does not affect the pension. The arrangements for coordination with a French pension, under the 1956 convention, are to be confirmed with CLEISS. The island's State pensions service can be reached on +44 1624 685656 (option 3).

The official sources consulted publish no cost of living index or ranking of towns favoured by retirees. The official benchmarks are as follows: an income tax with two rates, National Insurance contributions that cease at State pension age for people who continue to work, a £3.85 contribution per prescription item (free at State pension age) and a pre-payment certificate of £54 a year for residents. For housing, a government publication states that there is no restriction on property ownership for residents and non-residents alike, and land registration duties that differ according to resident status.

GP surgeries are spread across Douglas, Onchan, Laxey, Ramsey, Jurby, Peel, Ballasalla, Castletown, Port Erin and Port St Mary, and Noble's Hospital is at Strang, near Douglas: a retiree takes proximity to care into account when choosing a locality. See the page Isle of Man healthcare system.