If you live in France and have income from the UK — a pension, rental property, dividends, bank interest — you need to declare it. That declaration happens on Form 2047, the annex specifically designed for foreign-source income. It then feeds into your main return (Form 2042). Get Form 2047 right and the rest of your declaration follows correctly. Get it wrong and figures end up in the wrong place, or don't appear at all.
This guide walks through what Form 2047 covers, which section each type of UK income goes into, how currency conversion works, and how treaty relief is applied — using real UK income examples throughout. For a full overview of the filing process, see our complete guide to filing French taxes as a UK expat.
Who Needs Form 2047?
Form 2047 is for French tax residents who receive income from outside France. If you live in France and any of the following applies, you need it:
- You receive a UK State Pension or private pension
- You have rental income from a UK property
- You receive UK dividends or bank interest
- You have any other income sourced outside France
It is not the form for non-residents with French-source income — that is a different situation handled differently. Form 2047 is specifically for people living in France declaring what they earn abroad.
How Form 2047 and Form 2042 Work Together
Think of it this way: Form 2047 is where you enter and categorise your foreign income. Form 2042 is your main tax return where your income totals are summarised. Many of the figures you enter on 2047 transfer automatically into 2042 — but only if they're in the right section on 2047 in the first place. There are some which will need adding directly but the system will highlight these.
The online filing system on impots.gouv.fr will prompt you to open Form 2047 as an annex when you indicate you have foreign income. You complete it first, then return to the main 2042.
Pro tip: In the online system, you often can't complete the 2042 main return before the 2047 annex. Select the 2047 annex from the main return page. You can bypass most of the 2042 sections and then select 2047. Complete it in full, and the relevant figures will auto-populate into 2042. You can then return to 2042 and complete any figures that are missing.
The Key Sections of Form 2047 — Where UK Income Goes
Section 1 — Pensions and Annuities
This is where most UK expats will spend the most time. UK State Pension and private pension income goes here, under Pensions, retraites et rentes.
Each pension source is entered on a separate line with the amount in euros (converted from sterling — more on that below). The total from Section 1 feeds into Form 2042 boxes 1AM/1BM for State, private and invalidity pensions (Declarant 1 and Declarant 2 respectively).
UK Government Service Pension note: If you receive a pension from UK public service employment (civil service, NHS, armed forces, teaching), this is treated differently under the France-UK tax treaty. It is taxable only in the UK, not in France — but the declaration still requires three steps. First, enter the gross amount on Form 2047 Section 1, Line 12 with Country: Royaume-Uni and the "Public" box ticked. Second, repeat the same gross amount on Form 2047 Section 6 — this is what triggers the tax credit mechanism. Third, transfer the total to Form 2042 Box 8TK, which neutralises both the income tax and social charges. The figure from Section 1 also carries to Form 2042 boxes 1AL/1BL for Government Service Pensions. Do not omit it assuming it doesn't need declaring — and do not skip Section 6 or Box 8TK, or the treaty relief will not apply.
Section 2 — Investment Income (Dividends and Interest)
UK dividends and bank interest go here. The two are handled slightly differently:
- Dividends where UK tax was withheld at source — declared in the subsection for income with a foreign tax credit (crédit d'impôt égal à l'impôt étranger). The UK tax withheld can be credited against your French tax liability.
- Bank interest with no withholding — declared in the subsection for interest without a credit. France taxes this under the standard rules.
- Bank interest where UK tax was withheld — note that France does not give a foreign tax credit for UK interest tax withheld. If you've had tax deducted at source on UK bank interest, you need to reclaim it from HMRC separately.
The totals from Section 2 transfer to Form 2042, where they are subject to either the 30% flat tax (PFU) or the progressive scale — your choice, made via Box 2OP on the main return.
Section 3 — Rental Income from Foreign Property
UK rental income goes here. Under the France-UK double tax treaty, UK property income is taxed first in the UK — but as a French resident you still declare it on Form 2047. France then applies a tax credit equal to the French tax that would have been due, so you don't pay twice. However, the income is still used to calculate the rate applied to your other French income.
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the return. Many expats assume "taxed in the UK" means "don't declare in France." It doesn't. Omitting UK rental income from your French return is an error even when the treaty means France ultimately doesn't tax it.
Section 6 — Treaty Relief and Tax Credits
This section is where you record income that is exempt from French tax under a treaty, or where a tax credit applies. For UK expats, this is where Government Service Pension relief and the 8TK credit mechanism are handled.
Getting Section 6 right is what ensures the treaty relief you're entitled to actually shows up in your calculation. If you declare income on Form 2047 but don't complete Section 6 correctly, you may end up paying French tax on income France has no right to tax.
Currency Conversion — The Most Tedious Step
Every amount on all impôts forms must be in euros. The DGFiP requires you to convert foreign income using the exchange rate applicable on the date you received each payment — not a year-end rate, not a rough average.
Having said that, they do allow declarers to use the annual average rate for recurring income such as monthly pension payments.
In practice, this is the part of the process that takes the most time when done manually. Looking up 12 months of exchange rates, applying them to each payment, and totalling the result by income category is straightforward in principle but genuinely tedious. Taxpert's filing assistant does this automatically — import your bank transactions, and the correct Banque de France rate is applied to each payment date, with totals ready to transfer to your online declaration.
Common Mistakes on Form 2047
- Putting income in the wrong section — a pension entered under dividends won't transfer correctly to Form 2042. Each income type has a specific section for a reason.
- Omitting treaty-exempt income — income that France doesn't ultimately tax (like a Government Service Pension) still needs to appear on Form 2047. Omitting it leaves Section 6 incomplete and your treaty relief unapplied.
- Using a single year-end exchange rate for everything — technically permissible for recurring income, but applying one rate to all income types regardless of when they were received is an inconsistency the DGFiP may question.
- Forgetting Form 3916 — the foreign account declaration is a separate requirement that runs alongside your income declaration, not part of it.
- Not checking the transfer to Form 2042 — after completing 2047, always verify that the figures have correctly populated the expected boxes on your main return before submitting.
Declaring Foreign Bank Accounts (Form 3916)
Alongside Form 2047, if you hold any bank accounts outside France — including UK current accounts, savings accounts, ISAs, or investment accounts — you must declare them on Form 3916. This is filed at the same time as your income return.
This is a separate obligation from the income declaration. Even if an account generated no income during the year, it still needs to be declared on 3916 if it was open at any point during 2025. The penalties for non-declaration are significant.
The Part That's Easy to Understand But Hard to Do Manually
Form 2047 isn't conceptually complicated once you know which section each income type belongs to. The difficult part is the groundwork: gathering 12 months of bank transactions, identifying which are taxable income, converting each one to euros at the correct rate, and totalling by category so the figures are ready to enter.
That preparation — not the form itself — is where most people lose hours. Taxpert's filing assistant is built specifically for this stage: import your UK bank transactions as a CSV, label your income types, and get a filing-ready summary with euro totals per category, exchange rates applied, and the correct form sections indicated. The work that would take an afternoon takes minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need Form 2047 if I only have a UK State Pension?
Yes. The UK State Pension is foreign-source income and must be declared on Form 2047, Section 1. The amount transfers to your Form 2042 main return in box 1AM (Declarant 1) or 1BM (Declarant 2). The France-UK tax treaty means France taxes it (unlike a Government Service Pension), so it will affect your French tax calculation.
Does declaring UK rental income on Form 2047 mean France taxes it?
Not directly. Under the France-UK treaty, UK property income is taxed in the UK. But you still declare it on Form 2047 as a French resident — France uses it to calculate the rate applied to your other French income. A tax credit mechanism ensures you don't pay French income tax on it twice, but the declaration is mandatory regardless.
What exchange rate should I use for Form 2047?
The general rule from the DGFiP is to use the rate on the date each payment was received. However, for recurring income such as monthly pension payments, they do allow use of the annual average rate — which is far more practical.
Can I complete Form 2047 online or does it need to be paper?
Online is the default and is required for most filers. When you begin your declaration on impots.gouv.fr, the system will prompt you to add the 2047 annex when you indicate you have foreign income. Paper is only permitted in exceptional circumstances.
What is the difference between Form 2047 and Form 2042?
Form 2047 is an annex for foreign income — you complete it first, entering each income source in the correct section. The totals then transfer into Form 2042, your main income tax return. Think of 2047 as the detailed declaration and 2042 as the summary in the main declaration.