LesLauriers

Miki, In the days of the carte (or titre) de sejour you had to prove that you could support yourself financially, since its demise you no longer have to and can claim free cover from day one. I have met a number of expats who tell me that they have come to France to enjoy the benefits of life here including the health, education etc, but that they have no intention of paying taxes or contributing here. In the same breath they explain about the new 3 litre off roader they have just purchased and how many buildings they have on their gite complex. Clearly It is each individuals right to minimise their exposure to taxation through sensible financial planning but often the obvious life style does not match the suggested declared income. Will resentment build up? possibly. I suspect that eventually the number of tax investigations that involve expats will increase as this could be a good potential earner for the government.

In simple terms health cover is charged at 8% of your Revenue Fiscal de Reference (RFR) after deducting an allowance of 6849€. RFR is your earned income less 10% then less 20% plus unearned income or any other income. Remember that most things which are tax free in the UK are taxable here and included as income, Isas peps etc. If you have not completed a French inome tax return they will ask to see your payslips for the previous year and any bank statements. In my experience they are more demanding of documentation than the income tax people. If you are completely on the breadline it is free of charge, otherwise you pay the 8% or start working in France either self employed or for an employer.

[quote]Thank you for your replies. It looks as if Tempo is the way to go. How do they inform you when there is going to be a ‘red day’?Is kva the same as kw? Physics wasn’t my best subject! If we dropped to ...[/quote] EDF supply a small box which you plug into a mains socket. This box tells you which charging rate you are currently on and is updated early each evening to tell you what the next day charging rate will be, in addition it beeps to warn you if it is a red day the next day. The simple rule of thumb is that very cold weather = red. Holidays and Sundays are never red. If you follow the link I gave you in an earlier posting you will find EDF post a calender showing the history of colours for each day throughout the year. Switching to mono phase would be beneficial and there may well be a charge, best to ask at your local EDF office. We did have a tri phase supply but it was disconnected without charge when EDF had a problem with our supply, although the problem was later established to be unconnected. Changing to Tempo did attract a charge of around 25€ as I recall. Physics was never my thing but as I understand it 9kva allows for a maximum demand of 45k amps according to the meter we have only ever reached 30. I am sure that we could trip the supply if we used every appliance at the same time but it has never happened. I think 45 amp is equivalent to a maximum of 9900w in use at one time, someone else may advise.  

[quote]The key to your high bills is "3 phase" and your radiators. 3 - phase IS much dearer than domestic supply and you are compounding that by using electric radiators on this tariff. Your electricity is...[/quote]   "3 - phase IS much dearer than domestic supply" Is it? I cannot find any information on the EDF site to indicate that it is. We did have a tri phase supply but EDF disconnected it and I have only ever been charged the published rates which leads me to believe that the cost is the same. Can anyone else confirm this? I ask as I was considering asking for a tri phase supply for a pool heater.

The Téléthon is an annual event held the first weekend in december and raises funds for research into various maladies & disorders - a different one each year I think, this year it is Muscular Dystrophy. This is the website: http://www.telethon.fr/140-Divers/10-10_Plan-Site.asp If you scroll down you will see that there is an English version too!!!

The key to this is how much you consume, when you consume it, and which tariff you are on.   You say you have paid 1170€ for 10 months, we pay less than 700€ for 12 months in a 6 bed house, very similar appliances (with pool) and use to yourselves, although with an invalid in the house there is generally a television in use all day and a convector heater running 24/7 as back up to the central heating in their room.   We use an average of 22kw a day roughly, and on a 9kva supply on Tempo we have never tripped the meter. If you have a newish meter it will tell you your maximum demand, however from what you have said I cannot see it being higher than ours unless you have everything on together!   Try this link:  http://particuliers.edf.fr/rubrique112.html for details of the Tempo option.   There are 20 very expensive days in the year, but you are told 24 hours in advance when they will be and we do not use the washing machine, tumble dryer etc on those days.

If you get a copy of Decembers edition of the News with the Aquitaine pull out section, there are lots of Christmas markets and 'Whats-On's listed in there.

La Marmite at St Jean de Cole is very close. We haven't been there yet so can't give a personal recommendation but it is always on the list of recommended restaurants in the local paper. Also can personally recommend Le Moulin du Pont at Lisle, not surprisingly set right on the river - If you're interested I'll check they haven't closed for the winter season (e-mail me). Le Vieux Frène on the route d'Angouleme at Ribérac. Excellent buffet starter, including fresh seafood & shellfish.  

It's very much pot luck IMHO. We received a letter that was sent to us in France from England. It took 15 days to arrive. But then it would take longer as Royal Mail decided (I deduced from the double post mark) that it should go on a little sejourn to Adelaide, South Australia first and it was very clearly addressed  

I believe that once you are receiving your old age pension you will qualify for an E121 and you should not be liable to CSG on your pensions. You will continue to pay CSG on any form of savings interest. I suspect you will continue to be charged CRDS on your pension but at .5% it is not onerous. And once in receipt of your E121 you will not pay for the basic health cover. Other posters in your situation should be able to confirm the reality of the situation.

The prerecorded Telerabais message tells you that you are currently paying FT local rate call charges and then goes on to advertise reduced prices to other countries. If you were unable to connect then it is possible that you miss dialled or that you dialled a mobile or special rate number. If you wish to call a UK mobile you should dial 0826 10 30 30 rather than 0811 65 31 31 for Uk landlines. The message will ask you to press hash after you have dialled but I have never found this necessary. I have miss dialled in the past and then dialled again successfully, try again it works, it is cheap, it is easy, no sign up, no pre pay, no contracts and you can use any phone. 

The dual taxation agreement is mentioned in the inland revenue bulletin number 72, it helpfully refers you to this web page for the details http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs/uk/france_dtconvention.pdf   Unhelpfully the link appears not to work!   BJSLIV gives the link for detail regarding UK property and, depending upon the circumstances, this will either be good news or bad!   I would guess (and it is only a guess) that the long term aim is for tax to be paid in the country where you are tax resident, why should another government benefit from taxing non residents on bank interest for example – I can see no sensible reason from a governments perspective. However I suspect that governments will wish to retain their right to tax government funded pensions.   The European directive on the taxation of savings introduces withholding taxes on a rising scale to 35% on interest paid to non residents, with 75% of the tax withheld going to the country of residence. Clearly the 35% rate will be punitive to most taxpayers and this will encourage declaration in the country of residence. Presumably the idea is also to end the use of offshore savings accounts as a means of avoiding tax.   It is extremely disappointing to hear that you did not gain much assistance from the advisors you approached. Indeed it seems you were left with more questions than answers! I strongly believe that there is much that can be done to arrange your finances prior to becoming French resident, despite what you have been told, but then again I do not know the details of your own situation.  

There are classes every tuesday morning at the Palais de Justice in Ribérac. Beginners at 9.30 advanced at 10.30 Cost 6.10€ a lesson (one hour) payable by the term. Organised by GRETA (Government run adult education). Classes taken by a very nice lady, Isabelle, who I have found to be excellent. Email or PM me if you want any more info.  

I  could only cancel my Tiscali contract by registered letter  "accuse de réception" . I then had to wait until the 12 month contract was up before they would stop charging. The contract is self renewing for 12 months every 366th day.

[quote]We have always used http://www.lesminutes.com/Redirect/Home.asp?partner=lesminutes_uk not found a better one, registered our UK credit card, see your previous calls online, dead easy. Although ha...[/quote] www.telerabais.com  

[quote]Morning all,As a newcomer to the forum I would like to share in that wealth of experience and knowledge out there.We have been living in the South Charente for just over a year now and although we lov...[/quote] We sold our house "remotely" as you put it, whilst still in the UK. All of the paperwork was completed by post and was very straightforward. I suggest that you contact a number of solicitors close to your home to ask for quotes on their charges and at the same time ask if you can conduct the sale by post. From the information you have provided it appears that you are already tax resident in France (or certainly qualify) and at the moment a sale would be tax free in France. However the law is in the process of changing so a quick sale could be advisable. In the circumstances you should seek professional advice.

A quick look at the Inland Revenue pages on capital gains shows that the last 36 months of ownership are allowable towards total exoneration from tax. Sales of a UK property to French tax residents are currently not taxable in France subject to becoming a French tax resident in the UK tax year prior to the sale of the property. This is about to change though and any sale should be conducted quickly. From the little information provided it appears that you qualify as a French Tax resident for 2004 and arguably for 2003 also, I would suggest that you consult a professional advisor to ensure that you have the correct information as the information I have given has only been gleaned from the internet and is only my interpretation.  Other Forum members may have personal experience to relate.

Calls to the UK are charged at the France Telecom local call rate by telerabais, 1.8cts a minute off peak and 3.3cts a minute peak, with a minimum charge of 1 minute at 9.1cts. Examples of recent call costs to UK are 21m16s off peak costing 45.4cts and 27m 45s peak costing 98.7cts. No sign up, no contract, use from any phone including call boxes, just dial 0811 65 31 31 then enter the normal 0044 Uk number. Charges appear on your normal France Telecom bill (when using your home phone) as "Autre opérateur". You can also call Uk mobiles by dialling 0826 10 30 30, more expensive of course, a recent 4m 15s call cost 63.6cts.

They are in the yellow pages, complete with a map.   http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/

We have CLID on our France Telecom ISDN line, there is no extra charge for the service and it was enabled from day one.

Paris isn't in South Western France, not when I last looked anyway! S  

[quote]Do you know if you can open an ING account from overseas i.e. Australia in England without having a permanent address there. Would the same apply to Holland. We are at present getting 5.25%. Tha...[/quote] I believe you have to be resident in the country in which you wish to open the account. Have a look at their website.

Val & Ormx, When we moved over our then four year old daughter didn't say much at all really for the first year. It was very sad to see her wandering around the playground, mostly alone, as she had been so 'popular' with loads of friends back in the UK at nursery and the one term in reception class. But it's a very different story, now in our third year. She has loads of friends from all year groups at her school (up to 11) and she is once again very popular and is always charging around with a group pals. She also spends the entire day at some local stables with some school friends, her newly found passion for les chevaux. Her language really came out at the beginning of the second year and now there's no stopping her. Last week I had to ask her to speak in English more at home because she will speak about 80% french & I am beginning to worry about her losing her ability to speak english - she already is making mistakes. Our son was 8 when we moved and he very quickly picked up the language. We are told that he has no engish accent speaking french, he speaks with a local accent. His school reports for the past couple of years has seen his 'notes' (grades) about 3 points ahead of his french classmates in french!! They have both settled in so well, especially with the language, we couldn't have wished for better. I hope that gives you both some piece of mind that they should pick up the language, even if it is like my daughter, one year on from arriving here.  

I am sure that this has been the subject of a recent post, the bottom line as I recall was that you have to be on an income which is very low : so in France that means living on next to nothing.

I would be interested in peoples views on this, as the way I understand it is as follows: If the pensioner relative is resident with you in France then they are no longer covered by the NHS and should join CPAM for cover here in the normal way through an E121. Alternatively, if they are on holiday they will be returning to their home in the UK within 183 days, and will be covered there. I imagine that most Doctors would do repeat prescriptions by phone in the circumstances, but you may need to have someone collect them and post on to France. Emergency cover is provided by the E111 whilst on holiday here.