Sprogster

Tim, I get the impression that there are not many Brits engaged in buying French property or French property improvements these days, as when I have used several artisans on my property recently, they have all commented on the fact that I am the first Brit client they have had for ages and that their previous Brit business is sorely missed. Hopefully, if and when the £ and economic climate improves things will change, but at the moment I fear many Brits in France are either selling up, or tightening their purse strings dramatically.

gunsmoke, not sure you will get a response as the last time Kim visited this site was in May 2008 according to her details.

Just being a bit mischievous, as I think the no advertising rule is being pushed to the limit by Nubeginnings and cannot recall any other forum member getting away in being so blatant in pushing their business, as that has been the only tropic of their posts and is even reflected in their forum name. Potentially a dangerous precedent if it opens the flood gates to similar marketing posts.

I say chaps and chapesses, to my disappointment I do not believe that the average member of this forum is a Tatler reader. Must admit this type of R&R sounds rather spiffing and might help me pursuade the old wifey to cut down on the G&T's and After Eights. After all being a City banker these days is rather stressful, in that everytime I go to work in the Ferrari I get the most dreadful looks and rather rude gestures from these working class types! Recession, what recession! Tally Ho!!

The £ has just broken through the 1.20 barrier and if it holds we could well be looking at 1.25 early in the New Year!

PaulT, the recommendation to rent is only for the first year, so for such a short period of time the negatives you mentioned do not really apply. Also the property market now is very different from when you bought, with house prices likely to continue to decline in real terms for at least the next few years.

Female pilots are not allowed to fly during their pregnancy due to valid medical reasons such as the risk of blackouts. Unlike medicine, where there are now more trainee female doctors than men, not sure we will see a similar pattern in aviation. As commercial flying can be so family unfriendly with fixed rosters months ahead, especially long haul when you are away from home for days at a time. Commercial pilots have one of the highest rates of divorce amongst the professions as a result. As for the RAF the situation is academic as no new trainee pilots are being recruited and many of those in training are being let go, due to the savage defence cutbacks.

iPads used by pilots are used in flight safe mode only, as the Jeppsen flight charts are now loaded onto the iPad, rather than the pilots have to carry volumes of the paper versions around. The problem with mobile phones or 3g enabled iPads not in flight safe mode, is that the strength of the transmitting signal is ramped up by the device, as it struggles to find a signal at altitude. Those newer aircraft allowing the use of phones in cruise have a base station on board the plane, which keeps passengers phones at their lowest transmitting strength and limits the number of phones that can be used at any one time. As an ex pilot I have had first hand experience of avionics being adversely effected by mobile phone usage, which believe me you do not want on an instrument approach!

Parsnips, it may be aimed at those people, but the French Fisc cannot discriminate by nationality under EU rules, so in practice it will be applied to anyone that meets the net worth requirement. Although in reality there are probably not that many Brit expats permanently resident in France that meet the criteria, as many leave within the time constraint and France is not exactly a favoured permanent resident destination for the wealthy, other than as second home owners.

parsnips, it depends on what you define as being rich. A professional person such as a doctor, accountant or lawyer at partner level in the UK, will almost certainly be on a healthy six figure renumeration, and therefore can easily accumulate assets and build a pension pot over their career that takes them well into the French wealth and exit tax band.  

I am not talking about IFA's or their firms, who should not be giving tax advice, but specialised tax lawyers and accountants. However they rarely advertise, never give investment advise or recommendations and are usually part of the larger law and accountancy practices in London, Paris and the South of France. If you have sufficient net worth to fall into the French wealth tax band, which includes your pension pot, then in my humble opinion you should be getting specialised advice. With no disrespect, I would doubt that many posters on this forum fall into this category, so Daft Doctor is untypical in this regard, as the wealthier you are the less attractive France tends to be as a permanent retirement destination.

Daft Doctor, as I have previously mentioned you should really by now have obtained professional tax advice and it puzzles me that you appear not to have done so. After all as a Doctor if you knew an individual with troublesome symptoms was seeking medical advice from lay people, I am sure you would be telling them to consult a Doctor! It seems that you are a reasonably wealthy man and will be retiring with a pension pot that most Brit retirees in France can only dream of, and therefore especially need French tax advice that encompasses such issues as the recent changes to French wealth tax, inheritance tax and the newly resurrected exit tax. The latter could be especially problematic if you decide after six years to leave France to move elsewhere, as having to pay income tax on any unrealised gains just because you are leaving the country could be painful.

Most Brit expats in France do seem to end up leaving France, with some estimates that about two thirds leave within seven to ten years. Not necessarily to return to the UK, but some move to another country. For younger expats, making a living appears to be the main challenge and for older couples, missing family and the death or serious illness of their partner seems to be the main drivers. Other reasons given are divorce, which the stress of the move and money problems can often bring to a head and the French weather not living up to expectations. Recent Foreign Office statistics show that France and Spain seem to be falling out of favour as retirement destinations for Brit expats, with countries like Australia gaining in popularity. Comparative weakness of the £ against the Euro maybe putting Brit retirees of the Eurozone, as France is not a cheaper desination as it maybe once was. 

Chris, as you sound pretty well off by comparison to most resident expats in France, it is important you seek professional tax advice BEFORE moving to France, especially as there are several recent tax changes that might give you arise for concern. These involve the re-introduction of an exit tax if you leave France after being resident there for six out of the last ten years and could prove very painful, as any unrealised gains on property or any other investment in France or worldwide you or your partner have, would be treated as income and taxed accordingly. (Yes correct, taxable even if you have not sold the assets in which it is calculated you have an unrealised gain!) You may not planning on moving on from France, but the fact is that many expats do. Other areas of potential concern are increases in the inheritance tax rates, which can be confiscatory for bequests other than to close relations. Last but not least you should be aware that France has a wealth tax if your wordlwide assets are valued at over 1.3 million euros. This may seem a high threshold, but if the euro weakens and you have non euro assets it could be reached more easily than you think. Other areas to look into are the difficulty since 2007 for early retiree Brit expats to join the French health system and even if you can, the significant 8% of income cost for higher earners such as yourself. Bon chance!

I think the Barclaycard has a very low limit on transactions that can be paid by the touch method!

My understanding is that the French are turning their backs on traditional restaurants and increasingly prefer fast food establishments, with France being Macdonalds fasting growing market. Add to the equation the crack down in France on drink driving and the lower than UK alcohol limit and many French restaurants are struggling to survive, as the profit is not in the food but the sale of alchohol.

US banks tried to introduce chip and pin cards across the country a few years ago, but gave up after meeting strong customer and retail store resistance. In fact many big stores in the US do not require a signature for transactions under US$50 and do not even look at the card, as the customer swipes them! No wonder so many stolen European cards end up in the US being used in fraudulent transactions. No sure that pressure from American tourists will alter the situation anytime soon, as so few travel abroad or even have passports.

Val 2, the problem with the French press is that it is effectively censored and the local press rarely reports on personal crime, as it is bad for tourism! At the moment in the UK there is a lot of criticism about the UK press being unaccountable. However, in France strict privacy laws, the pervasive influence of business and the authorities means France does not have a free press as we would understand. Surprised that the Gendarmerie would get involved in your area, as where I live burglaries fall under the domaine of the Police Municipale According to official stats the murder rate and gun crime in France is higher than the UK

Was not part of the GB franchise, but a long standing BA route. Three years ago BA decided to move the flights from Gatwick to Heathrow and London City. I believe that with the prospects of a third Heathrow runway killed off, BA are now re-growing their Gatwick base to allow for expansion. My OH prefers BA, as with the two items of hand luggage allowance, she does not have to cram her handbag into her rollerboard! Even that seems flexible, as they also seem to allow you to take on several shopping bags as well!

As part of the expansion of their Gatwick services, British Airways are reinstating their Gatwick to Nice service next March, There are three flights a day and prices seem to start at £50 each way inclusive of all taxes and 23kg luggage allowance. Good to see that Easyjet will get some competition on this route as they were hardly low cost!

According to the French police, the trend is for occupied properties to be increasingly targeted, as the thieves want cash, or debit/credit cards and will extract the pin numbers from the householders, under threat of violence. Apparently, electrical and household goods no longer have much street value, due to the recession and substantive reduction over recent years in the prices of new flat screen TV's and other electrical goods. A monitored alarm system acts as a good deterrent, as thieves are more likely to go for a house which does not have one. Quillan is absolutely right about dogs, but not a practical solution for everyone.

I have recently had a sophisticated GSM monitored alarm system installed that is activated/deactivated by a remote control unit with panic button! Now been advised to add electrical gates, so OH does not have to get out of car to open gates at night. In our area we have had several break ins where the house owner is jumped at gunpoint by the thieves at the gates. All this in a nice quite area as well, but France has a higher burglary, gun crime and murder rate than the UK, contrary to common misperceptions by some Brit expats!

daft doctor, I cannot stress strongly enough the need for you to obtain professional French tax advice, from a suitably qualified French tax lawyer. Especially, as I assume the amounts involved with a retiring partner of a GP practice, are substantial and probably far greater than most members of this forum would be familiar with. My understanding is that the situation for GP's in the UK is very different, in that you are not individually employed by the UK government, but the medical practices are independent private contractors. Although, for historical and contractual reasons you still have the benefit of an NHS pension. A posters opinion, or experience, should never be relied on where tax issues are concerned, because the tax authorities and governments constantly move the goal posts if they believe it can earn additional revenue.

Presumably though you have advertised in Tatler? There is no such thing as a free lunch!

Naughty, naughty, a bit to much like blatant advertising me thinks, which is against the rules! Presumably you pay for the Tatler listing?