AnnH

French laws are very specific on estate agencies, to be an estate agent you have to have a contract with a French estate agency and in addition to your siret number you will also have a Carte Professional number issued by your employer.  If any one sells property in France without a Carte Professional number then they are selling illegally.  Englsih registered companies selling from England should not actually meet you in France unless they also have a French registration.  From this year the laws are tightening even further so beware.

Many thanks to yo uall.  I thought this was the case. Will get back onto Newcastle.

I think so .  Many thanks

Does anyone know the contact details for Sam Crabb, he is an accountant fluent both in English & French Tax laws.  He lives in South West  England. I used to have his number but have lost it. 

I have been told by the UK pensions that they don't actually issue a paper E121 to give to the French authorities in order to obtaine a carte vital, is this correct, what do you need in order to get your carte vital if you are retired?

Even if you are registered for several trades (and proved this to the chambres de metiers) it is still near impossible to get insurance for all the trades you cover as one person.  I asked the question if the prefecture & chambres de metiers can authorise the trades why can't the insurance company insure them, the answer was 'this is France'.

We were quoted €2000 for carpentry, menusery & maconry, however in reality it was €3000 because my husband had learnt his trades outside of France. It reduces by % over 3 years until same as French.  You also need public liability approx €300.  We had to join CAPEB to get these reduced rates.  ALso we never had to do a 5 day chambres de metiers course to get registered, just had to prove qualifications.  Hope this helps

Having read on or two of these threads I think Will is missing the point that most people thinking of moving to France consider Taxes to included income tax & cotistations - I know he is right that there is a difference but in the main most people want to know the overall cost of running a business and it is just more confusing to start talking about the 2 as separate issues.   Having been here for a year and used this forum before and after the move I think you just need to keep it short and simple, especially on this issue.

The limit for micro entreprise is €27,000 (turnover) so depending what your business is it is good to get the customer to buy materials etc and just charge for labour.  If you need insurance for Artisans then if you join CAPEB (€150 per annum) Groupama will give you big discounts,  our insurance came down from over €4000 to €2500. Hope this helps.

Hi, I know this is little off subject, but I have heard of schools offering the international bac, as I understand it the nearest one to me is in Brittany, I live in Mayenne Dept 53, does anyone know of a school offering this nearer to me.   Many thanks.  

Thanks to everyone who has replied. I must admit that sub contracting seems the way forward, however we would like someone on a permanent basis. SO a couple of other questions if I may.   1) Could John (of the last reply) please put his answer in terms of figures ie if employee earns, you will pay etc etc.  I am normally quite numerate but this is all sending me mad.   2) If we used someone who was not skilled as an artisan but was a labourer would they still need to be a micro-entreprise or can they just make a tax declaration at the end of the year, which is what my accountant says I can do if I earn any money outside of the business as long as I am offering a service and not selling.  My husband is registered for a range of trades and can do the work himself but needs someone to clear up, knock out, mix etc  

We have an entreprise and are at the stage we need to take on employees.  Is it better to use other registered people (ie on a self employed basis) or are there any incentives to take staff onto the books? Is this better tax wise than being a 'one man band' etc.  We shall be talking to our accountant but all help appreciated.

Usually you need to make an appointment.  If the system in dept 53 is mirrored in your area all you need is a copy of passports, proof of residence in England (ie recent utility bill).  You don't need to have already bought a house.  A small deposit is all that is needed ie.e €50.   French bank accounts come with charges for cards etc, you should get a cheque book and a bank card - the same card can be used by all account holders but you can request one each.  If you use credit agricol their basic card allows you to use €1500 per week on a rolling weekly basis.  Usually this is enough and any cheques that are written do not account towards this total, however if you are renovating etc you may wish to opt for a card with a higher limit.   Hope this is useful.

Our garden slopes away from the house too, but we have had to have a raised filter bed because of the location of water course, wells and soil make up.  The pump is located just before the filter bed and is purely to pump the water to the top of the bed to allow it to drain down.  1400 euros for a pump is expensive we paid 475 euros.  All the information you need to install your fosse and filter bed should be contained in your survey report for which you have to pay.  We sent this report to our water authority who agreed it and then they just made one inspection, after the installation but before we back filled, and signed it off.  We have just had a materials cost for a customer and that was 2500 euros 3000 ltr, without a pump and the pipe from the fosse to the filter bed, on top of this you need to add the cost of a digger.   Hope this is helpful.

Registered electrician required for total re-wire & under floor heating, dept 61.  Must be available in approx 6 weeks for 1st fix.

We are planting a small fruit 'orchard' near to ours, the ordchard will be seeded with meadow grass and we are going to continue this onto the mound. Doesn't hide it in the winter but would give your other plants time to establish themselves.

Saligo Bay may not have liked my comment but I am sorry to say that if you read through many of the different threads, on different subjects you can almost quarantee if there is a reply from a particular person (I am not pointing the finger at anyone in particular) then that reply will be in the negative.  I know people are only passing on their experiences, as I am, but I try to point out the good points as well as the bad points.  I think it important that people go into the move with their eyes open, but life itself is a challenge unless you are lucky enough to be rich and not have to worry about the monetary consequences of your actions. Any move should be a family decision and should be right for your family and only you can decide that. I know my children,  and thought I new how they would react to the move, I am lucky they are both bright and outgoing. The reality of the move was that they are perfoming somewhere between my original expectations and those prophesised by many on this forum.  The pendulum could have swung either way but as I said in my previous post family support is paramount.   Life is what you make it whether you live here in France or elsewhere.  Every country has is red tape and rules etc and you have to work your life around them.   As a final note about extra lessons, before I left the UK I work as an administrator in a junior school, we had a young polish boy start in the school, he, nor his parents, could not speak English, the education authority said that they had spent all that years money allocated to providing additional language lessons and it was left to our school to do the best we could.  So much for having more control over your budget,its just not true.

I tend to agree with Battypuss, family strength, ambition and outlook on life play almost as much a part as ability to learn.  We moved here just 3 months ago with a 13 (nearly 14 year old girl) and her brother 10 (nearly 11).  Our daughter did not want to leave UK mainly because of friends, she still misses them dreadfully but keeps in contact via internet and phone.  We initially chose a French school outside our area because it appeared to offer better help for English children, however after 2 weeks we moved her to our local school, she dropped back a year and is in a class with 1 other English speaking pupil.  She has extra French lessons in school and we also pay for 2 additional lessons outside of school.  She has made friends and is settling in well.  As she has dropped back a year she has covered a lot of the lessons in England and this allows her to concentrate on learning the French rather than the content, she is considered bright by her peers already.  Her French is improving all the time (more than she realises). There are times when we feel that perhaps we havn't done the right thing but life is too short for ifs and buts. Before we left we agreed to review everything at the end of a year, if all is not well we shall have to look at our options but I think if things keep going as they are we shall be staying. Don't get me wrong there will be good days and bad days, only you can make the decision.  I used this forum before we made the move and it almost stopped us coming but I am glad we came.  I am not saying everything is roses but read between the lines of the doom mongers - some of them only seem to have bad things to say about anything, I am not sure why some of them still live in France.

To work legally you must register, this involves having your certificates (i.e city & guilds) or an attestation (reference) translated by an authorised person and then this has to be agreed by your prefecture, after that you can register your business for those trades that have been authorised.  Your attestation should show that you have competent experience in your chosen field(s) for at least the past 3 years.  As I am not sure which department you are thinking of moving to I cannot comment on whether there is much work or not.  Hope this is of use.

It sounds like you have everything but make sure that your birth certificates are full ones which include parents.  We didn't have them and had to get new ones and then go back.   Hope this helps.

I am lead to believe that it can take up to 2 months (I live in dept 53) so you should have heard by now.   Ask your estate agent to chase them up.

Thanks for all the replies, I now know what is what.

[quote]Yes, he should be in CM2 this school year, going on to college in 6e in September, the same as my son.BTW "My son is 10, his dob is 13/11/94 so will be 11 in May." If his birthday is 13th November, h...[/quote] Sorry you are right, his date of birth is 9/05/94.  Typing whilst brain not in gear. 

I am a little confused about what age children a re in each year group.  I understand that they can drop back a year or go forward but what is the norm.   My son is 10, his dob is 13/11/94 so will be 11 in May.  In England he was in year 6 (the last year of primary).  If he were in the French system in the correct year where would he be, primary CM2, or college 6ieme? All replies gratefully received.  

I don't know if it is just me but Brittany Ferries seems to have become very expensive over the last year. We have travelled on all the boats now, the Val de Loire is my husbands favourite as it offers a choice of bars, the Pont Avon is nice but nothing really special.  we travelled overnight mostly and I always felt that the cabins were expensive considering you were only in them for a short time and there was no property owners club discount on them.  If like us you travel 8 - 9 times a year the crossing looses its magic.  We have now moved to France and will be travelling the other way, in addition we will not have to make our way back from the British ferry ports to Devon so we are trying Speed Ferries next time, much cheaper, £70 return in summer, only £142 for a 3 week return for large van, 50mins crossing so hoepfully spend much less on the ferry itself and the children shouldn't get board. It may be a case of you get what you pay for but I know people who have used them and have been very happy.