Mudman

Do any of you good folks know if the French impot system has a personal allowance limit as in the UK ie: the maximum income you are allowed to earn before becoming liable to be taxed. Similarly with their equivalent of national insurance (cotisation?) All advice appreciated - thanks

Thanks for all the useful comments guys - certainly there is much to be considered before setting up in business here. I do rather get the opinion from your comments, and information trawled from elsewhere on this forum, that those who wish to start a small enterprise here are regarded with what can only be called suspicion by those in authority. Is this why one is made to jump through hoops, and levels of eg. cotisation are set so high - with the fontionaires reasoning that a business declaring "x amount" as income is almost certainly making a lot more in un-declared money, so they are going to make darned sure to get their slice of the cake. I suppose one could see a certain logic to this viewpoint, but in a country with such high unemployment levels, one would have thought that a little more state support and encouragement to individuals starting out and wishing to contribute to the economic life of the country, would ultimately pay dividends. Before leaping merrily into the delights of running my own business, I intend to explore the possibility of linking up with a local business already established in this field, with the idea of maybe sub-contracting through them. Don't yet know if this will be a)possible or b)financially advantageous. Whichever I'm sure it won't be that simple!. I'll be sure and let you all know. Alan

Hi guys Am in the process of renovating a huge old barn in the Charente. Have done half to give us a 3 bedroom house in which we are currently comfortably living. Took the opportunity to install all pipework for underfloor heating, but have yet to decide upon a heat source for same. Have been doing some net research on ground source heat pumps, and think we have a great opportunity here to go down that route (we have the land; underfloor heating which is particularly suited to gshp, and not least I have a mini-digger to do all the ground work). Do any of you have any experience of the installation of such a system. Any suppliers available in my region. Am keen to do as much of the installation myself, so would love to be able to obtain it in "kit" form. Also, I note that in the UK there are government grants available for such "green" systems - by some miracle is there such a scheme available over here?. Thanks in anticipation Alan

My first post ! Situation is that I have a mini-digger, purchased to use on our land/ barn renovation here in the Charente (much cheaper than hiring for long-term work). Am now looking to hire out myself and the machine in order to bring in some much needed pocket money. Had a v. helpful meeting at the Chambre de Metiers end last year where I was given all the info needed. However I have held back as I was most alarmed by the costs involved - not so much for start up as by the commitment to paying cotisation of 300-400 euros / month. Quite honestly such a commitment, on top of insurance and other overheads, would make the business marginally profitable at best - have done some trial adverts and demand is not that high; and truthfully I want to keep things small scale. My questions for you good people are: 1) Is there any way of circumventing the commitment to pay cotisation (am already fully signed up with CPAM via form E109 - so no incentive there). 2) Prior to arriving here mid 2001, I was the owner of a busy pub in Angleterre for 6 years, so am thoroughly versed in all aspects of running a business - keeping books etc. Is there any way this experience can be presented to help me avoid having to go through some of the hoops at the Chambre de Metiers. Any advice gratefully received Alan ps: this is an excellent forum. Kudos!