Evianers

Just to complete our saga, we are pleased to report that we did finally receive our refund last month. That will pay for some pre-Christmas wine..... Sheila's other half.

After a wait of almost two years (which seems to be the norm for this sort of thing, Covid or no Covid) today we finally received notices showing that they are going to repay for 2015, 2016 and 2017. The notices are dated 9th October so, with luck, the money should be in our bank account before Christmas....... Good luck to those still waiting - patience is a virtue but it can also be very frustrating! Sheila's OH

OP here.................although we have been bombarded recently by the many {welcome} messages into our inbox, we wouldn't have it any other way, and hope for continued support from everyone, and for further good news. BTW, nothing from our office in Annecy {74}[:@]

All those years we lived in LBF, we were never able to travel to Brittany as it was +/-1000kms away.Now back living in Blighty {Dorset} it will be relatively easy to travel from Poole/Portsmouth to Cherbourg so are looking for a suitable small gite/apartment near but not on the coast. One bedroom, bathroom, cooking facilities, and WARM please. Thanks for all recommendations.

As the OP of this thread - {keep posting guys}! my OH has just commented in reply "typical........."Yes indeed, nil carborundum

We sent a "what's going on?" email to the DGFIP in Annecy (74) on 4th October but got no reply. Today we sent a follow up email and have received the following response (translated from the French): "Following your message below, I inform you that your request is registered in our service. Concerning the processing times, we have a lot of delay due to the influx of claims. Nevertheless, I tell you that we are doing everything possible to reduce the backlog. In addition, we may be required to contact you again when processing your file for possible additional information." No surprise there then and it could just be a standard "delay and contain" tactic. Still, there may be a Christmas present coming, even if it is our own money.... We live in hope!

Thank you dear contributors for kindly asking : we are at present in limbo. Neither we, nor the estate agents wish to see these people ever again, but of course, they will meet at the Acte de Vente. Meanwhile we have given proxies [unbeknown to the Ghastly Grumbling G.........s] and will pack up and move six days before this is due to take place. We never want to see them again. We shall of course leave the house immaculate so they have no leg to stand on [they are just the type to refuse to sign because of X Y or Z] so there is little or no option or cause. Only another two weeks to go. Anyone want to buy a beautiful less than 2 years old VW Golf Sportsvan [not a van at all but an upmarket Golf] as because it is silly season, we have no takers even at an extremely reasonable price. Any suggestions anyone? TIA

As you will have seen from the link posted, our immobilier is indeed very French.Present at the signing : Notaire, two sellers [us] two buyers [nasty pieces of work] plus representative from Immobilier's office. Obviously everything is a tad more upmarket in Haute Savoie.

Just in case anyone is wondering, this is not your usual run-of-the mill type property. Oh no. It is a magnificent villa overlooking Lake Geneva in an impasse with only four other houses, with 163m2 habitable and 256m2 overall with garage, basement, laundry, wine cellar etc. Not exactly a common or garden Lotissement.They obtained our beautiful home at rock-bottom price so we have a right to be furious if they try to knock us down further. The head honcho of the estate agency will visit us at 08.30 tomorrow. https://www.decordier-immobilier.com/en/buy-house-flat-evian-thonon/ref-dc2-891/sale-house-6-rooms-4-bedrooms-neuvecelle-74500/

Thanks everyone for your help and moral support.If these horrible people do need a mortgage, and use this as an excuse to get out of the sale, you will hear us cheering the length and breadth of France, from the rooftops of Evian! They can do something which ends in a very offensive .......off!

Further update [for those kindly folks who can be bothered with this ghastly saga]Putting the house back on the market tomorrow at agent's suggestion. Meanwhile, spoke to the notaire who confirms : we cannot back out [more's the pity]. Sellers can demand reduction but it is up to us to say no [don't worry, we have in no uncertain terms]. Spoke again to head honcho at agency, who is coming round on Saturday to discuss our options and what to do next.Have decided in the interim that IF they don't back out and go ahead, we never want to see them again, so will have someone act as Power of Attorney to sign the Acte de Vente in ca. 90 days.Any comments anyone? Loved the s h i t comment - just about sums them up!

As they say in Oz....................yer not rong!

Update : feel rather sorry for the poor agent caught in the middle. Buyers had the barefaced effrontery to demand 20,000 reduction. Furious of Evian hereabouts! Told the agent no way. He then went back to the buyers who said 15,000 instead. Told them they either pay the signed-for price or they can sling their hook [sorry everyone, but we are simply furious here]. Remains to be seen, but we think they will cave in eventually and if they don't, we never want to see them again anyway. They opened all our cupboards, critised one crack in a tile, and, and, and,  even opened the freezer and told us we had a lot to eat before we moved out!!!!

This is really helpful folks - thanks a million.Will try to remember to post what happens.Bit fraught here, as yaw'll can well imagine!

Sorry everyone, Should read Advice needed please

Yesterday four of us, sellers [us] and buyers[them] signed the Compromis de Vente, in front of the Notaire for obviously a fixed sum.Today we hear they have been down to the Agency Immobilier and asked for a reduction in price.Question : having signed for a fixed price, is this in fact legal? Can they do this? We are inclined to refuse [my OH says they are "just trying it on", with which I agree. Agency calling us back at 18.00 for an answer.If anyone knows our legal status, please please advise. We want to pull out, but cannot under the law as sellers. MERCI BEAUCOUP!

We would like to buy a RHD smallish, recent UK registered car with MOT.Manual, 5 door preferred. Make not really important but condition immaculate.Can either swap our beautiful VW Golf Special or come to some arrangement.

Quite by chance we have an update on progress today - or lack of it. We registered our claim on 2/11/2018 with our local tax office via Messagerie securisée on the Impot website. After five months of inaction we received a one-line reply on 10th April stating that we should send our claim to them by post. They also marked our original demande as terminé. We then sent an email to the office in Annecy that dealt with the previous reclamation (for 2012-2014) and repeated our current claim. Their response was to ask us to send our claim by post! This rather makes a mockery of their policy to do everything on line.....   Anyway, today we sent off our claim by registered post with A/R to the Division Affaires juridiques et Contentieux at Annecy as they are the ones who actually handle things like this. However, no doubt nothing will happen until after the Government's case is heard in July. If it is of any help to others, the email address for the Division Affaires juridiques et Contentieux is: [email protected] where XX = the Department number, in our case 74. We assume that this email address would be valid for any Department so you may wish to bypass your local tax office and deal directly with the organ grinder, so to speak. Regards,

Checked our bank statements yesterday and nothing, zilch, nichts, nada.Why are we not surprised. If your tax is not paid within a certain period, you are penalised.However, doesn't seem to work the other way around does it?

[quote user="woolybanana"]Yes, EuroTrash, good approach, did something similar but all in same file. But I also printed off the list of required documents, showed it to the lady then gave them to her in the list order, having said “ Voici ce que vous demandez, madame”. She said something about being well organized as she checked and photocopied them. Then, with a smile, she absented herself for a few seconds as she took the copied docs Into an inner office, then took the fingerprints, and asked me to wait a few minutes as they prepared the receipt/temporary document. Simples really when you know what they want.[/quote] wb : fingerprints!!!!!!no-one has yet said anything to us about fingerprints. becomes worse and worse,but thank you everyone once again for your kind and very useful contributions

These responses are all wonderful = thank you very much for each and every one.Obviously we shall have to find out exactly what the Haute Savoie [Annecy] require in the way of documentation. Only one [huge] problem, in that everything is in OH's name and nowhere does my humble name appear on French documents. He's fine, 'cos he's got an Oirisch passport. Lucky him - unfortunately I am not eligible having never lived there. His Mum was from Galway - boy has it stood him in good stead!Still, we soldier on and have to find out whether what you indicate is correct. One of our fellow Brits here who opted for full naturalisation, has had to fork out over 1,000.-- in fees for this and that [she says] - no reason to doubt this figure. B%$^&&y  B$%£^it!!!!!

Just read in our inbox the article regarding applying for a Carte de Séjour [Permanente].So far so good, but we understand that it is necessary also to have all documentation translated into French by a sworn translator, paying either per word, or if the document is not too long a flat fee of minimum 50.--Nowhere does it state this in any of the different applications. But we are now wondering whether this is correct, and whether we need to hurry up and register before 29/03. What will happen if we procrastinate to when the left hand actually knows what the right hand is doing? Will we be penalised for late registration.We are grateful for the guidance offered but from our point of view, it doesn't go far enough.All knowledgeable responses will be gratefully received.

Here is the one that we used to make our claim on the secure messages section of the Impots website: Monsieur/Madame, Suite au jugement du 11 juillet 2017 du tribunal Administratif de Strasbourg, confirmé par la Cour Administrative d’Appel de Nancy le 31 mai 2018, sur la légalité de l'application des Contributions Sociaux (CSG, CRDS, PS) aux revenus des valeurs mobiliers reçus par des étrangers résidents en France, qui ont leurs frais de santé payées par leurs pays d'origine, je voudrais enregistrer, provisoirement, une réclamation (en tant que titulaire de formulaire E121, donc pas à la charge de l'assurance maladie). https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichJuriAdmin.do?oldAction=rechJuriAdmin&idTexte=CETATEXT000037039702&fastReqId=2003156200&fastPos=2&utm_source=Patrimea+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2d014ba9e9-6.Newsletter_Expat_2018_6_27__&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6f1ca407 En attendant la décision de la CJUE, je vous prie, dans le cas où la Cour tranche contre l'application de ces charges, de me rembourser les contributions sociaux payées sur mes revenus de valeurs mobiliers reçu pour les années 2015, 2016, 2017 (payées en 2016, 2017. 2018). Veuillez recevoir, Monsieur/Madame, nos salutations distinguées. name (numero fiscal) The long https address in the middle links to the Court of Appeal decisions on the Legifrance website. Hope that helps. (Sheila's other half)

This is actually Sheila...... surprise, surprise!Our claim is "being dealt with" whatever that means. One can obviously put in one's own interpretation. But not wanting to sound in any way superior or snobbish, we feel that perhaps [probably] the Haute Savoie is geared up to deal with these claims more effectively? Or not? What do others feel - does where you live play a role in all things to do with the dreaded Impots?

Of course we need a land line.We do not have one of those ghastly fashion accessories called mobile phones.