France vs United Kingdom

France

SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (URSSAF micro-social, impots.gouv.fr barème, Service-Public) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.

United Kingdom

SettleMetric tax engine over the 2026/27 UK rules (HMRC Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances; self-employed National Insurance rates) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Apr 6, 2026

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.

Notes

Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.

France

France-Visas — official visa wizard (no dedicated remote-work/digital-nomad visa; self-employment via Passeport Talent / profession libérale) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 14, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

France has no dedicated digital-nomad or remote-work visa. The long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur) forbids any professional activity, so it does not fit an actively-earning remote worker. Non-EU self-employed freelancers use the 'entrepreneur/profession libérale' long-stay visa or the Passeport Talent (for qualifying founders/investors/highly-skilled). EU/EEA/Swiss citizens work and freelance freely with no permit. Classified 'long-stay-path'.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK — Global Talent visa ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 20, 2026

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

Classified from this country’s legalization data. The United Kingdom has NO digital-nomad visa and no general freelance or self-employment permit — the old Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and self-employment routes are closed. What exists for someone working for themselves is the Global Talent visa: up to 5 years at a time, no sponsor, self-employment allowed, open to any nationality, and it leads to settlement after 3 or 5 years. It is not granted for being a freelancer — it requires endorsement as a leader or potential leader in academia, the arts or digital technology — so it is a realistic long-stay path rather than a freelance permit. The High Potential Individual visa also permits self-employment without a sponsor but lasts only 2–3 years, cannot be extended and does not count towards settlement.

Notes

Everyone else works from the UK as a visitor. Since January 2024 the Immigration Rules explicitly allow a visitor to work remotely for an overseas employer or their own overseas business, provided that is not the primary purpose of the visit — which legalises the short stay but is capped at 6 months and is not a residence route.

France

INSEE — La consommation des ménages en 2024 (Insee Première 2056, dépense de consommation finale par fonction COICOP) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.

United Kingdom

ONS — Family spending in the UK, financial year ending 2025: workbook 2 table A23 (expenditure by household composition) and workbook 5 table 2.7 (housing expenditure by household composition) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Mar 31, 2025

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.

Notes

Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.

France

Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB) ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.

United Kingdom

UNODC — Intentional homicide victims (CTS data), United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland), 2024 ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.

Notes

Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.

France

Curated from French mutuelle comparateur data (goodassur 48,082-quote July 2026 dataset; Selectra tariff study) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jul 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).

Notes

A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.

France

impots.gouv.fr — Plus-values sur cessions d'actifs numériques (cryptomonnaies); AMF/MiCA CASP regime ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Legal and regulated. Capital gains on digital assets for private/occasional investors are taxed at the flat PFU — 31.4% from 1 Jan 2026 (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social levies; the social part rose from 17.2% when the 2026 Social Security law lifted CSG on capital income 9.2%→10.6%), with the option to elect the progressive scale instead (since 2023). Total annual disposals ≤ €305 are exempt. Crypto-asset service providers authorise as CASPs under the EU MiCA regulation (the former AMF 'PSAN' regime from the 2019 PACTE law), with the AMF as competent authority.

United Kingdom

Financial Conduct Authority — Cryptoassets ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 20, 2026

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

Holding, buying and selling cryptoassets is lawful for individuals and there is no restriction on it. Businesses carrying on cryptoasset activity have had to register with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations since 10 January 2020, and since 8 October 2023 any firm marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers falls under the FCA financial-promotions regime regardless of where the firm is based. Gains are taxed: HMRC treats cryptoassets as property for Capital Gains Tax, and trading as taxable income.

Notes

Not crypto-friendly in the tax sense — there is no exemption of the kind Portugal or Germany offer on long-held holdings. Two consumer restrictions are worth knowing: the FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes to retail consumers, and cryptoassets are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so an exchange failure is not underwritten.

France

Service-Public / economie.gouv.fr — Paiement en espèces (plafond); Code monétaire et financier art. D112-3 ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 1, 2015

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

Composite: France uses the euro, fully convertible, with EU free movement of capital and NO exchange/capital controls. The main constraint is a cash-payment cap — a French tax resident may pay at most €1,000 in cash to a professional (since Sept 2015; non-resident tourists up to €15,000); cash between private individuals is unlimited (written proof required above €1,500). The EU Anti-Money-Laundering Regulation adds an EU-wide €10,000 cash cap from 2027. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. These are ordinary AML measures, not capital controls → 'low'.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK — Take cash in and out of the UK ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 20, 2026

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

Inputs weighed: no exchange or capital controls on moving personal funds into or out of the country, and no limit on the size of a bank transfer; sterling floats freely; non-residents may open UK bank accounts subject to the banks’ own identity checks rather than a legal bar; and the only cross-border reporting duty on an individual is a declaration of cash of £10,000 or more carried in or out of Great Britain, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and seizure for failing to declare. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and must report it through Self Assessment, which is ordinary for a developed economy rather than a control on money.

Notes

Opening a first UK bank account without a UK address or credit history is the practical friction, not the law — it is a bank compliance problem, and it is why many new arrivals start with an e-money account.

France

La Poste / Colissimo (Pickup) and Mondial Relay network figures ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2025

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

France has one of Europe's densest out-of-home parcel networks. Colissimo/Pickup: 26,000+ pickup points (≈17,500 relay points + ≈6,500 automatic lockers, incl. ≈4,500 24/7 Pickup Station lockers). Mondial Relay: ≈17,000 points (≈9,000 lockers + ≈8,000 relais). Plus Relais Colis, Chronopost, DPD, and La Poste home delivery ~6 days/week, with nationwide next-day/2-day standard options → 'excellent'.

United Kingdom

Ofcom — Securing the future of the universal postal service (2025 review of the universal postal service and other postal regulation) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 22, 2025

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

Inputs: Royal Mail must deliver to every UK address at a uniform price. First Class letters keep a six-day-a-week next-working-day service, but Ofcom cut the headline target from 93% to 90% delivered next day in its 2025 reform, with 99% within three working days. Second Class was cut from six days a week to alternate weekdays, delivered within three working days at a 95% target and 99% within five. Ofcom opened an investigation into Royal Mail’s 2025/26 delivery performance. Next-day delivery therefore exists nationwide, which is the "excellent" test, but half the letter service is now a 1–3 day product and the regulator has both lowered the bar and is investigating failure to clear it — which is the "good" band.

Notes

This grades the regulated postal service, which is what has an official source. The UK parcel market is much faster than the letter service and is where most people’s experience comes from, but its carrier and parcel-locker networks could not be verified here — see the delivery-methods row.

France

EU single market (free movement of goods) + European Commission removal of the €150 duty-free import threshold (from 1 July 2026) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Intra-EU shipping is frictionless (single market — most European cross-border parcels arrive like domestic ones). For non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and from 1 July 2026 applies a temporary flat customs duty per item on ≤€150 consignments (VAT already collected at checkout via IOSS since 2021). Predictable but no longer duty-free — the same EU regime as other member states.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK — Tax and duty on goods sent from abroad ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 20, 2026

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

The UK left the EU customs union, so every consignment from abroad is cleared. Customs duty is relieved on non-excise goods worth £135 or less; above that, duty applies at tariff rates. VAT is due on everything except gifts of £39 or less — on consignments of £135 or less the overseas seller is required to charge it at the point of sale, above that the carrier collects it before delivery and adds a handling fee. All the major international carriers deliver door to door and clearance is routine rather than uncertain. Northern Ireland follows different rules for goods "at risk" of entering the EU.

Notes

The £135 threshold is low enough that most ordinary online orders from outside the UK carry VAT, and the sting is usually the carrier’s handling fee rather than the tax. Nothing is blocked and nothing is unpredictable, which is what separates this from significant-friction.

France

M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.

Notes

France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.

United Kingdom

M-Lab NDT country aggregates for the United Kingdom ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Method

Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 344 days and 32,367,951 tests. Monthly medians ran 46.9–50.3 Mbps with no seasonal pattern. 2023 is the last complete year M-Lab publishes for the UK — the 2024 file stops on 26 March — and it is the year the other countries in this dataset are measured on.

Notes

M-Lab measures what a browser-based test achieves end to end, which reads well below the line speeds advertised by UK ISPs and below Ofcom’s own connection-based figures. It is used across this dataset because it is the only free, licence-clean source measured the same way everywhere, so compare it with other countries here rather than with a national regulator’s number.

France

EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band) ↗

Research

Data as of

Nov 1, 2025

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 20, 2026

Verified

Sep 20, 2026

Notes

English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.