Can you save UK tax on UK pensions if overseas?

Another recent question was about Pensions.  Which are taxable in the UK and which in France if you are a UK resident?

HMRC provides a listing of how it treats pensions which is a good guide.  For example, Military Pensions and Teachers Pensions remain taxable in the UK and are declared in France.  State pensions are NOT taxable in the UK, only in France.  These are not choices - its governed by law and tax treaties.  You cannot just decide.

The next question was "can I optimise the UK tax".  There are options that are cheap and simple to help on:

1) making sure to have filled in the relevant forms to get UK pensions paid gross.  You can end up paying more tax than you need in the UK if you forget to do this; and

2) looking at transferring some of your personal allowances between a wife and husband.  That is still an option - and you can even do it for previous years.

These are relatively simple and cheap processes- costing less than a tax return. The transfer of allowances could net you around £250 a year UK tax saving, with no impact on French tax.