Mikejac

Having completed my first French tax return I have since received my Avis d'Impôt and now wish to claim back tax paid in the UK.  I am unsure, however, as to which of the reference numbers on this form is my French Tax Reference. There is a Numéro FIP, which is rather long, then a 3 digit Numéro de rôle and finally a Numéro SPI for myself and a separate one for my wife.  I am guessing the tax reference is the SPI number. Can anyone confirm this Mikejac

Just completing my first French tax return and am not sure what rate of exchange to apply to convert my UK income to euros. Does anyone know the correct rate of exchange to apply for 2006

I am just completing my first tax return and am getting conflicting advice as to how much income I should declare.  Should I declare income for the whole of 2006 (from 1 Jan) or only from when we arrived in France (1 May 2006)?  Can anyone give me a definitive answer to this? Mikejac

Our garden in France is infested with Cuckoo Pint.  I have tried numerous weed killers in an effort to get rid of it from the cultivated areas of the garden and gravel pathways, but to no avail.  This plant seems to be resistant to all known herbicides.  Does anyone know how to get rid of this pest? Mikejac

Can anyone tell me if I need to protect young oleander and hibiscus plants in the Lot during winter and, if so, how soon should it be done? Mikejac

I am trying to decide on the best value for money top-up for my wife and myself, but am confused over the percentage issue.  How likely is it that we would be charged over the TC for medical treatment as inpatients or outpatients.  Should we opt for 100%, 125%, 150% etc. Any advice on this would be appreciated Mikejac

Hi Are there any dog owners in Cahors and the surrounding area who would be interested in setting up a dog sitting circle to look after one another's pets and allow the owners a well earned break. Mikejac

I am considering a Jotul wood burner as the main source of heat for our house in the Winter, in part to avoid the high cost of heating by electricity.  I am confused, however, by the operating instructions for the model in question (Jotul F273) which state "The product is intended for intermittent combustion. By intermittent combustion one means normal use of a fireplace, meaning that each fire should burn down to embers before new firewood is added." Does anyone have experience of a Jotul wood burner or similar?  Are they OK to be burning all day as a main source of heating? Mikejac

I'm having a similar problem in the Lot, but in my case it stems from an inherited dish.  I have aligned this correctly, as far as I can tell, and the digibox reports both good signal strength and good signal quality.  However, it reports no satellite signal.  Any ideas?

Thanks for that.  What I was thinking was that I'd need adaptors anyway to enable me to use our UK phones/fax, so I thought if I could use my UK microfilters the sequence would be: Adaptor - UK Microfilter - UK Phone/Router. Mikejac

Does anyone know if on Wanadoo ADSL services you need to use a microfilter in sockets where you have telephones plugged in and, if so, can I use my UK microfilters (with suitable adaptors to allow for different plug type) or do I need to buy French ones? Mikejac

We are considering 2 options for our pool.  One is an approved winter cover, plus an alarm for use in the Summer and the other is a Winter/Summer cover of the type that you wind with a long crank handle.  I believe they are called couvertures à barres. Given that youth is no longer on our side it seems that the second option would be easier for us to use, although of course we would need to close it every night, but presumably this would help to keep the heat in. The difference in price between these 2 options is getting on for £1000, so I'd appreciate any views from pool owners familiar with these security measures.

Try the simple calculator on this site http://www.auto-innovations.com/site/fr/c_puissance_fiscale.html All you need to know are the figures for CO2 emission and power output in kW Mikejac

Is anyone aware as to whether or not there is a requirement in France for a caravan to be fitted with a reversing light in order to pass the registration process.

What is AFIDEL please?

May seem like a silly question, but does France have department stores like Debenhams, House of Fraser, M&S, BHS.  In all my travels around the Country I don't ever recall seeing this type of store, though that might be because we tend to avoid large city centres.  It's only relevant to us now as we are about to move there in May. Mikejac

Has anyone any experience of this company.  They have given me a good price for our move to France, but I don't know anything about them other than what's on their website (www.removalgroup.com). Mikejac

Has anyone tried this out? Mikejac

Thanks Barry.  I know registering a caravan in France is not necessarily going to be an easy task, but I'm prepared to give it a go.  My question really relates more to any difficulties I might encounter if I register the car  before the caravan or vice versa. Mike

When I arrive in France in May I shall be registering my UK car and, hopefully, UK caravan.  I have heard that registration of the caravan might be rather long winded. My question is, if I get the car registered first will that then prevent me from towing the unregistered caravan by a French plated car.  On the other hand, if I wait to get the caravan registered first is there a problem registering that with a UK plated towcar?  Does anyone who has gone through this process have any advice to offer? Mikejac

Nick Are you sure about the French regs concerning fog lights.  I had seen elsewhere a caravan owner had to have the van's lights reversed in order to move the foglight to the other side. mikejac

Does anyone know of any insurance companies offering cover for furniture and other possessions whilst in transit between the UK and France.  We am moving to France in a few months and have found a number of private individuals and small companies who can move us at a considerable saving when compared with the bigger outfits, but none so far has been able to offer insurance.  My current UK household insurance company will only cover goods in transit if the move is within the UK and I haven't been able to track down a company offering this as a one off.  I guess a lot of you out there have used these small outfits to move you, so what have you done for insurance?

We currently live in a part of North Yorkshire with some of the hardest water in the UK.  It's a nightmare trying to keep surfaces clean, let alone prevent build up of scale in pipes, kettles etc., so I know the problems.  We are moving shortly to France and are interested to find out what the water will be like at our new home. Does anyone have any idea as to the level of hardness of the water near Labastide Marnhac, about 10 km to the southwest of Cahors? mikejac

As my original post implied (but perhaps didn't make clear) we don't move until May 2006, so I gather now that I don't, after all, need to fill out any tax forms until 2007.  I raised my question because of the statement made by Teamedup. [quote user="Teamedup"]You should fill in a tax form for your income in 2005 from the date you arrive in France in 2005. Some tax officials have been known to say that this is not necessary if one moves late in the year, but in fact, you should really and I reckon that is usually in the persons interest to do so too as we are often asked for proof of residence etc and the tax form for all sorts of things. The forms come out in March time. [/quote] I also gather from other threads that it is necessary (or perhaps desirable) to complete tax forms in order to join the French health service. Does anyone know if this is correct?

My wife and I arrive at the beginning of May to take up residency in France.  I understood from a bank employee in France that we would not need to complete a tax form until 2007 (for 2006), that being our first year in the Country.  Is this info incorrect and are we expected to fill in a form for 2005?  If so, this is presumably only a formality, as we paid UK tax in 2005 mikejac