bixy

Actually, this is my third declaration and I had previously assumed the position was as has been made clear above. It was just as I was going through the FAQs which I printed off some time ago [and many thanks to the wonderful people who put them together] that a small (hopeful) doubt crept into my mind. Now all is crystal clear and thanks once again to those who answered my query. I would just like to say that I greatly appreciate the trouble people go to, to help others on this forum - people who they do not know and who, in all probability they will never meet. It restores your faith in human nature (a bit). Patrick

A horrible thought has just occurred to me. We pay tax in the UK on 'government' pensions, ie. teachers. I realise this is taken into account by the French tax system under the double taxation treaty. Nevertheless, if we were taxed wholly in France we would pay less tax. I've always thought that this was a situation that we could do nothing about but now it occurs to me, having read through the tax FAQs, that perhaps we can avoid having this 'government' pension taxed in the UK. This is the relevant section: Q         But I'm still paying tax on my UK pension - what do I do about that? A         You need to notify HMRC that you are now living and being taxed abroad so they can adjust your UK tax code to zero and refund you any tax paid since the date of your arrival in France.  You just ask them for a form FD5 which you complete and hand in to your French tax office with your first tax declaration.  They will stamp it to certify you are now a French taxpayer and send it back to the UK. Does that only apply to non 'government' pensions or does it include them? Patrick

We know a good many expats living in France. Interestingly the only ones to move back have been those trying to make a living here and therefore not dependent on the value of the pound. I suspect that those moving back do so for many reasons, few just because of the declining pound. What you read in the newspapers is 99% made-up rubbish. Read Nick Davies book: 'Flat Earth News' Patrick.

In an earlier thread I made the following prediction: Tories overall majority of 20, Lib Dems increased seats, but only to about 75. I see nothing to change my mind and I note that the bookies are starting to come my way. I'm looking forward to saying 'I told you so' on May 7th. I can't say I'm looking forward to Cameron as PM. On May 8th he will reveal his true Thatcherite colours. Watch out for your pensions or any other benefits you may receive. Patrick

And how many large organisations send mail to France with second class postage. I'm surprised it gets here. At Christmas time we receive a number of cards with just UK postage. It's not as if we've gone to the moon, it's only France for goodness sake. It just reminds me yet again how inward looking and non-European minded the British are. Patrick

They bill themselves as the world's biggest bank - I'm talking about C*t*bank. They are possibly the world's stupidest and/or greediest bank. Check out this story. Received a new credit card a couple of months ago. As usual had to go online to activate it, as I have done several times before without a problem. My OH had received her new credit card at the same time and activated it without a problem. With mine,  this time, apparently there was a problem and I was put through to India. I was asked to provide the 2nd and 4th letters of my mother's maiden name, which I did. I was then told that they didn't know what my mother's maiden name was. Uh? I was told that I would have to write in with said maiden name so that they could then check that I knew it. I know, you couldn't make it up, but it gets better. I wrote in with required information. In the meantime my wife and I both received letters telling us that our credit limit had been reduced. No reason given - we have never had credit problems. I then had a reply to my letter saying that the proof of address I had supplied was inadequate. Almost by the next post we both received new credit cards and letters apologising for the mistake and reinstating our credit limits. I went on line to activate my new card only to be told that it was already activated. Today, a few weeks after receiving the new credit cards, we both received letters telling us that our credit card accounts were being closed - no reason given. I suspect that we are not very good clients because we always pay off every month. they would prefer us to have a mountain of debt at some ridiculous rate of interest. When you read the above chaotic story it comes as no surprise that our financial institutions have brought us to the brink of ruin. What a bunch of useless w*****s. Patrick

Thanks for those replies. I did know about form 2047. The main thing I was unsure about was the continued holding of ISAs. Patrick

Thanks for your answer. What is IIRC? Unfortunately many banks will not pay interest gross for non UK residents. Patrick

Yes, it's that time of year when I start worrying about doing our tax return. My query concerns tax paid in the UK on UK savings interest. Am I right in thinking that there is nowhere to enter this on the French tax return and that the only recourse is to reclaim from HMRC at the end of the tax year? If so, a supplementary question, as far as HMRC is concerned can one continue to hold ISAs while resident abroad? I would hate to make reclaim for tax paid and then discover that HMRC insist that I pay UK tax on my ISAs. All advice gratefully received. Patrick

When comparing the cost of living France/England it's important to remember housing costs. I was looking at a fabulous modern house near here - 4 beds and everything else, €115,000. Unlikely to find that in the UK so people's housing costs tend to be much higher there. Some of the posters above have quoted the high price of food items. I would say that is one of the smaller items of our expenditure. What really hurts are vehicle running costs; fuel, both domestic and vehicle; telecommunications - landline, mobiles, internet; insurances inc. mutuelle; and anytime you have to engage an artisan. Patrick

Yes, you will need a car if you live outside town and that means you will have to buy a car here - second hand cars not cheap, or bring a car over from the UK. That in turn means immatriculating your car - again not cheap, depending on model. You will also have to change your headlights, which can be horrendously expensive, as I have just discovered . Don't ask how much, please! Patrick

Yes, it's usually the Americans who don't understand irony, but ebaynut is a special case, probably as a result of an (expensive) private education. Patrick

Clearly, ebaynut, you do not understand irony - or much else, from what I can see. Patrick

As the OP I wasn't really intending to start off a political discussion. Rather I thought it would be interesting to speculate on the outcome of the election based on the (mis?)information that is available to us. However, I can't resist commenting on the views of ebaynut. Surely you get into Eton, not on the basis of intelligence but on how much money your parents have got. Having been to Eton only proves that you had rich parents. Just for the record, my son went to the local comp. He has a PhD and is a world authority in his scientific field. My daughter went to the same comp. and she got a good honours degree from one of our best universities. Clearly, they would have done a lot better had we been able to afford to send them to Eton [if they take girls that is]. Patrick

So who's going to win the election and will it make any difference to those of us living in France? To answer my own question, unless the result affects the pound, then probably not. I thought this election might be more interesting than previous ones, with talk of a hung parliament and a Liberal resurgence. That is, until I looked at the odds the bookies are offering. They are quoting only 1 to 6 for the Tories being the largest party and evens for them having an overall majority. This would seem to contradict all the opinion polls. However the bookies are not daft and they ususally get these things right - after all it's their money at risk. I may have a punt at evens - I think that's not a bad bet. My own prediction is Tories with an overall majority of about 20, Liberals improved but only to about 75 seats. Anyone else care to make a prediction? Patrick

Or perhaps the chap who proved that crickets hear with their legs. He pulled off their legs, made a loud noise and the crickets didn't move. QED. Amazingly enough a couple of years ago I read that their organs of hearing are on their legs. How's that for life imitating art?! Patrick

A mystery solved. On returning from the UK, almost before the car had stopped rolling, the machine knew who I was and offered me a choice of crossings. The odd thing is that I didn't give my reg. no when I made the original booking so the machine must have read the number on the outward journey and stored it. I was rather impressed - one of the few examples of technology being for the benefit of the consumer as well. Patrick

Thanks for that. I'll give it a try - again, but without much hope. Patrick

As the OP thought I would add a follow up. We have just returned from the UK where I went into a branch of NW to see about upgrading to the Visa debit card. You can't, I was told because it would mean opening a new account and you can't do that because you are not UK resident. I would be interested to know Graham and Brenda how you managed to get this upgrade. All in all the visit was a complete waste of time. There were other matters that I was told I could only progress in a branch - got absolutely nowhere. I shall be writing them a letter... Patrick

Many thanks for those replies. I will pass the information on to my friend. Patrick

I wonder if someone can help with this. A friend is on Incapacity Benefit. He is anxious that if he moves to France he will lose this but my researches tend me to think that in fact this benefit will be continued to be paid while he is resident in France. I also understand that being in receipt of this benefit will entitle him to a E121 [he is under state pension age]. Furthermore he would be entitled to 100% reimbursement rather than the usual 70%. Am I right in all this - I wouldn't like to mislead him? It would be good to hear from someone who is in that situation themselves. Patrick

Chancer, the answers to your questions are: yes, no yes, and I do have a flex account. I also have a very large sum of money invested in various accounts with Nationwide so I can see no reason why my credit rating would have been downgraded. I have never had any debt/credit problems. It's true that I only ever use my flex account to withdraw cash here in France. It will be interesting to see whether other people get one of these letters. Patrick

Just received a letter telling me that my cash card will be replaced by a card+ which will not be able to be used to withdraw money outside the UK. Well that defeats the whole point of having the card. It will be able to be used for making purchases. We use the card to put money into our current account here, and from there it mainly goes to pay direct debits and the like, so the ability to make purchases is not a great deal of use. The letter also points out that any charges incurred by N/wide when we use our card to make purchases will be passed on to us. I wonder why they have taken this step. This is bound to affect a large number of ex-pats. Patrick

I found a free programme called 'doPDF' - only 3mb; downloaded and installed this on my friend's computer and it worked just fine. A note of caution, when it installs, it makes itself the default printer but you can easily change this after. Patrick

Thanks for those replies. I will pass the information on to my friend and see what works. Patrick