Bikboks

Sorry pachapapa, but I do not understand your message. Is my post still on one of the two boards? (Board soft? Mirror thread?)

I have tried to source a wood preservative and sprayer similar to the one Cuprinol sell in the UK. I cannot find it here, if one exists, and two e-mails to Cuprinol have not produced the courtesy of a reply. I need it for my garden shed Can anyone help please, and thank you in anticipation.

I have tried to source a wood preservative and sprayer similar to the one Cuprinol sell in the UK. I cannot find it here, if one exists, and two e-mails to Cuprinol have not produced the courtesy of a reply. I need it for my garden shed Can anyone help please, and thank you in anticipation.

Complan is not available in France, although it can be ordered from Chemist Direct in the UK but the postal cost is high. Does anyone know of an equivalent French product please? Thank you in anticipation.

Many thanks for sending me the model letter you suggested. There is every indication that this issue will not be settled soon, our Impôt man is  not yielding and we will have to go up the scale. Cordialement - Malcolm Hipple

Hello there, Thank you for your useful information. I would be very grateful for a copy of your model letter. Many thanks

We have lived in France for eight years now and pay all our taxes here. We live solely on pension income from former employment in the private sector in the UK, together with  UK State pensions. We have current E121 forms from the time we moved here. I  receive demands to pay Contribution Sociales Généralisée/ Contribution pour le Remboursement de la Dette Sociale. Every evidence I have is that I am not required to pay this. Friends in similar circumstances have never been asked to pay. Experts' answers to people who have raised this matter before in various journals also confirm this. An item in the Connexion paper dealt with this matter and even a paragraph in the Impôt Bureau's own form 2047 says it is not due under the same circumstances as mine. Despite this overwhelming evidence our man in the Impôt Bureau here in Moissac is adamant that I have to pay. We have written, and had two phone conversations with him, but he insists that once one in my situation commences to pay tax in France then one is liable to pay a CSG/CRD contribution. Our next step is to have a face to face meeting but I fear that he will not be made to change his view. What can I do if he continues to be pigheaded? Is there a higher authority I can appeal to? Thank you in anticipation.

I pay all my taxes here in France and am non-resident for tax purposes in the UK. When declaring my pension income here for taxation, I have always included the UK state pensions my wife and I receive. However, someone has just said that UK state pensions are not taxed here. I am seeking some re-assurance that I've not been wasting my money. The tax guidance forms published by the Connexion Newspaper confirm that I am correct but this doubt has now been raised by a friend born in France.

Can anyone recommend a competent accountant who can advise on the completion of a personal tax return where the items are complex and not just those normally encountered. I live near Moissac 82200 someone local to here would be preferred, say within 50 kms. Thank you in anticipation.

In view of the very poor interest rates given for savings in the UK, can anyone recommend an organisation in France that offers more advantageous interest rates with security please? Thank you in anticipation. Cordialement - bikboks

Does anyone know what is the position regarding the disposal of cremated remains if the person concerned expressed the wish that their ashes be taken to the UK and disposed in the event of their death and cremation in France? What is the procedure and is there much bureaucracy involved? I have been told that it is expensive both in terms of the French requirements and that of the carrier.

I understand there is an organisation, similar to the one in the UK, whereby one can register and avoid being troubled by telephoned sales calls to your home. Does anyone have the details please?

There used to be an English language e-mail site operated by the French tax authority in the South West where one could submit questions re tax problems. They usually answered within 24 hours. The site was [email protected]. I tried contacting it recently but there has been no reply. Does anyone know if it still operates or if there is an alternative service? Thank you in anticipation, Malcolm Hipple

Does anyone know the name of a French equivalent for Milton sterilising fluid? Many thanks in anticipation.

Thanks to you all for taking the trouble to write, I can see I was not alone. Apart from writing to the respective tax offices I also sent an e-mail to the central government IR office telling them of this problem. They have e-mailed me back today, apologised for the error and said they will notify the tax offices concerned to correct the situation. They also said that this should have never happened in the first place.

I have had four letters from three different UK tax offices telling me that I am now on the basic rate UK tax deduction rate (20%). One letter has now listed my income and UK allowances and "calculated" my new tax code. My pension providers have now been told to deduct tax. I have lived in France for nearly seven years and have been authorised as a UK Non-Resident for tax purposes for all that time. I pay all taxes required of me in France for the same period. I have written to these half-baked IR morons with copies of my NT authorisation letters and hope this will end the nonsense. However, for the next period of time I will be losing necessary income until they rescind their instruction to my pension providers. If they doubted my circumstances, why didn't they write to me and ask before taking unilateral action? If they thought they needed to calculate my code, why didn't they send a Tax Return form? Has anyone else experienced this total insanity?

I would like to thank all of you who kindly took the time and trouble to answer my request for help. The distillation of all of this is that I feel quite reassured. Since the inheritance will most likely be taxed at source in the UK, with the executors statement showing this, I am confident I will not be liable  in France as well, or at least, I will have a valid reason for not declaring it if questioned.

I may benefit under a relative's will. This would be paid in sterling in the UK. I am a non-resident of the UK for tax purposes. Would I be liable for tax on this windfall in France? If so what is the current order of pecentage? Thank you in anticipation.

I am led to believe that when one reaches the age of 75, provided there are only you and your wife in the house, then you no longer have to pay tax fonciere. The notes with the form are ambiguous. They could either be read as either "anyone over 75 on a low income, or a disabled person on a low income" or "anyone over 75 regardless of income, or a disabled person on a low income" Can anyone please clarify? Thank you - Malcolm Hipple

Dear All, I understand that, if you are over the age of 65 (60 for ladies) then you can recover the difference in the cost of medications, doctor etc. from the UK health service that is not paid by CPAM. Is this so? If it is, how does one proceed and what evidence is needed to be provided? May I thank you in anticipation of your kind attention. Malcolm Hipple

Many thanks for your useful information. Malcolm Hpple

We live in SW France and would like to have a stand in an antique fair or brocante in order to sell some of the items we no longer have room for. It would seem that the best way to get started is by contacting people who hold these fairs in various towns throughout the year. We could then register and rent a position at any locations that are suitable. My question is, does anyone know the names of such antique fair/brocante organisers? Thank you in anticipation.

We are having a lunchtime buffet, drinks etc for many French friends/associates. Can anyone help us to find a source of inexpensive, small, ideally round and stackable tables. We live in the Midi Pyrenees with easy travel to the Lot and Lot et Garonne departments. Thank you in anticipation of your kind help.

I find that the life of my car tyres in France is less than half that of what I was used to in the UK. After 50 years of driving, and a very considerable number of miles covered, my driving style is still the same so I can be discounted as a cause. I live in SW France, department 82. Is it the quality of the roads? The frequent bends due to the winding nature of the roads where I live? - it is very hilly.  A poorer quality of tyre here? The rough nature of the surface of the drive at my house? Even more puzzling is that most of my latter cars were front wheel drive, and one expects the front tyres to last a shorter time than the rear ones.  Not in my experience here, the rear tyres need to be replaced more frequently. My last set of rear tyres here lasted 10,906 miles (Pirelli), my general experience in the UK for rear tyres was 30/35,000 miles (Pirelli). Apart from a shorter life, the tyres cost considerably more here thus compounding the expense. Does anyone else have similar experience to mine apropos tyres?

When they rarely are!