LesLauriers

"We've all been there in the beginning when having to deal with something unknown and flaffed about a bit on the spot.  You need to be here for a while until you gain confidence in speaking the language." I agree, we flaffed about on occassions when we first arrived, but even with schoolboy french he should have at least managed " je, errrr, voudrais errrr école, errrr enfants?" surely. He couldn't even get one word out, except in english.  

Kaf, in these circumstances what are you doing about health cover? Are you covered by CPAM? through an E form or have you had to take out private insurance? You say that in your case payment of taxes in the UK is compulsory, is this because your husband works for the UK Government (teacher, policeman, armed services etc)?    

To add to Vals response, no family allowance is paid if you have only one child. With two children the allowance is less per child than that of the UK but increases for 3+ children. Sorry but I don't have the figures to hand just now.  

I bought an Olitec ISDN (RNIS) modem for around 60€ via the internet from selexium.fr, at the time it was much less than FT. Do search on Google.fr for Olitec and you should find a few suppliers.

We drink eau de source, only we don't pay for it. Every few days I go down to the lavoir in the village and fill up my empty water bottles, just like many of the locals.

I had a look too. But it seems that you have to pay out to see the actual photo: that is 40€+ for a photo on paper or 70€ for a TIFF file of it - I would like to see it first just to make sure it's worth it but I suppose if they displayed it on screen you could right-click and save it from there!

A message from the wife - TOH didn't mention that he was scottish!!!

Froggie & Boghound     Thank you, clearly I need to get out more, off for a walk now, perhaps I,ll find some string !

In my case PKF Guernsey were very good and offered a one off service for my circumstances, not inexpensive but you will probably save money in the longer term. They also sell a guide to French Taxation which  I found to be the most informative of all the books available, I think it's about 25 to 30 GBP. Someone like Siddalls or Blevins Franks will attempt to sell you their products but in my experience will sell you the advice if that is what you want. In my experience PKF and one of the financial advisors provided good coverage between them and more than paid for their services in terms of minimising liability to income tax, social charges, health charges and inheritance tax within the framework of French legislation.  

Tiscali will allow RNIS on their 10€ forfait which gives you 5am to 5pm Mon thru Sat plus 15 hours a month. This might fit with your work commitments. 9online do not advertise it, but if you apply for their telephone service there is an offer of unlimited internet access for 19.95€ a month. Or at least it was as recently as June. In both cases you can only connect at 64kbps, it is possible to connect at 128kbps with 9online however when I did they cancelled my account and I had to reapply.

Grillons

The Leclerc's near us are advertising a compost bin for €29.99 this week - looks quite a good one too. I thought of buying one or two but I might now ask at the Mairie thanks to Mpprh!  

[quote]It isn't the tresorie that deal with tv licences anyway, it is the Centre de la Redevance de l'Audiovisuel, so the tresorie were not competant to make any comment what so ever about this.[/quote] Possibly so but they did, and therefore it is another example of lack of knowledge on behalf of "authorities" . That said I am sure I read that there is a plan to make them responsible.

[quote]The name I was thinking of had something to do with frogs (sorry) kermit? Budget something. Sorry to be vague!.[/quote] You are probably thinking about www.budget-telecom.fr. 5.4 cents a minute but no connection charge - good value if your calls are less than two minutes long. You would save 0.2 cents v Telesoldes, over 2 minutes Telesoldes and Telerabais appear to be cheaper. 

[quote]Well I called in at my branch and with this particular bit of the HSBC in France (Not CCF) they said I could draw out what I wanted, but if it were a really big amount I would need to give them around...[/quote] What was their definition of a "big amount"?

[quote]I had a very strange conversation this morning at our local Tresor Public. I had gone down to the office to handover my final payment for my 2003 income tax and the guy behind the counter said to me '...[/quote] My limited experience has shown me that the people working in the tax offices have varying degrees of knowledge, different tax offices interpret the rules differently and within the same office you can get different opinions on the same question. Recently a friend told me that the staff at the Tressorie fell about laughing when she enquired about a TV license, their view was that viewers of UK TV did not require a French TV license yet there have been numerous postings on LF to the contrary. I would enquire for sake of your own peace of mind, but do not hold your breath! 

[quote]We use http://www.lesminutes.com/Default.asp?partner=comparatel You just have to dial 3111 before your number website has an english option and it only takes a couple of minutes to set up if yo...[/quote] Sorry Boiling A Frog, and I regret being pedantic, but this thread is about the cheapest way of calling the UK. lesminutes 3111 service is 4.9 cents a minute plus 10 cents connection. Can anyone find a low (i.e. lower than those stated) cost phone service which is cheaper or provide feedback on Telesoldes for example. I have used Telerabais and the cost is shown on your FT bill online at Francetelecom espace client the next day, it is simple and effective. For a number of reasons I have not yet signed up to Telesoldes (neuf telecom contract being one), but I am looking for feedback on them or a genuinely lower cost provider, although I believe it may be difficult to find one at a lower rate.

[quote]I use Tiscali Telecom and can ring 24/7 to most of the world at very reasonable prices. However, their accounting system is odd and I am very careful about making payments etc.[/quote] TU, With calls to UK at 6.9 cents /min plus 11.9 cents for first 10 seconds Tiscali Telecom is the most expensive provider mentioned in this thread so far. The idea is to spend less, not more!

Just click into the espace client link and follow the instructions, you will need details from your last bill.

>Oh to be en Perigord now that autumn's here<   We're in the Périgord vert with far reaching views, overlooking a valley with woods on the other side. With all the other trees in the village in the valley, the 'depth of field' is fantastic and in the autumn the changing colours of all the different types of trees is just stunning. Mingled with the swirling smoke of the autumn bonfires and the mist hanging over the river in the valley in the mornings, it really is quite magical. Autum really is my favourite season!  

I'm sure that I read somewhere (?) that it is illegal to pay / accept payment for over 2000€ in cash - no doubt part of the money laundering / taxation purge. In the UK we bought everything on a credit card (1% cash back, merci!) here everything is by cheque and of course no cheque cards!, even when buying cars we paid by cheque and did not have to wait for the cheque to clear. Only when buying the house were we subject to the UK procedure of " show me the money" and that was by bank transfer as in the UK The Banks must take the view that there is no need for large amounts of cash, and of course handling large amounts of cash costs money!  

For simplicity use www.telerabais.com from any french land line including call boxes: Dial 0811 65 31 31 for calls to UK land lines at 1.8 cents/min off peak 3.3 cts peak, min 9 cts a call. Dial 0826 10 30 30 for UK mobiles 15 cents/min min 11 cts a call. Tarrification by the minute.   For a sign up service www.telesoldes.com from your french home phone: France local 0 cents minute. France National 0 cents minute, connection charge 6.38 cts. French portable 7 cents/min, connection charge 11 cts. Calls to UK land line 1 cent/min 9cts connection. UK mobile 15 cents/min. Tarrification by the second. These deals make Onetel, Primus, Neuf, etc look expensive.

[quote]Sorry Leslauries, I didn't got an 'espace client' when I go to your FT link? . The nearest thing is 'Espace Dédiés' and even with my wonderful (?) French that don't sound right. John.[/quote] Sorry but you will find it on your other right - it is on the left hand side (doh) very close to the top - well down a bit then.   And yes,  I do  frequently get  lost without sat nav!

For TVA read VAT.

Does anyone know what sort of problems if any we could encounter in terms of French Tax Law if we continued to operate in this way in France None so long as you register as self employed in France and pay your social charges, income tax and health charges in France. Could we be liable for dual tax when we start transferring the money from the UK A/C to the French A/C?No, You will only be liable for tax, social and health charges in France, it will not matter if you leave the money in the UK - you still pay here. You will be liable to pay these charges on all worldwide income from the date of your arrival. You should seek professional advice as these charges soon rack up and 60% could quickly be reached.