Judith

Lori, as a poor sighted creature, I would suggest you get your eyes checked. Progressives in France, varifocals elsewere, do need to be corretly fitted and whilst optometrists can now test, it is still very useful to get your eyes checked up by a opthalmologist. The puffs etc are nasty, but that is checking for glaucoma and such, and quite honetly, the older we get, it probably best done in spite of your disllike. The drops a necessary evil to look at the back of the eye .. to see the health of your eye.. They check for disease also. Since I've worn glasses since I was 3 years old, I got very used to having my eyes poked at etc .. better safe than sorry. If you were any where near to me, I would recommend my opthalmologist ... a caring person, he did both my cataracts, and understood my fear during the ops .. all happily perfectly done. The minimal you can do is to go to an optemistrict, or optician, and see if they will make a new pair to your old prescription, but he might recommend you get a test, and quite honestly, it's not the route I would chose to go with a prescription so old. Frankly, your sight is precious, it's not worth messing around with.

Thanks Fittersmate: late reply as trouble getting the site to load every time I tried. On hols, so not as regular a look as usual! I got mine in before we came away, but that form looks good to me, as far as it applies to me. Sure it will help others though ..

Chessie, You may not see this until it is too late, but they have significantly improved GA over the years. Comparing the 4 GA ops I've had (2000, 2017, 2019, 2021) each time the receovery period has been reduced with much less discomfort, in fact, after the last in Nov 2021 (second hip replacement) I was so good after it I was amazed, having remembered how I was for the previous hip replacement one in 2017. So your worries about GA may not be needed. However, I totally understand your worries, given what you have told us about OH's health already. Prayers winging your way ...

Nick, I can only agree. Doesn't help, eitehr, that they change something on the forms every year too. Meanwhile, I have given up finding one sectin, it does not seem to be there .. so sent them a message, but for now, I've put it in, and in fact you get a long time to correct it, even after the deadline. The important thing is to get the forms filled in as best you can by the deadline, adn go back to it later if you find any more. Most of what I can't find is peanuts of interest and such anyway!

ssomon, that really doesn't surprise me. Nameing is a big bear even in the best regulated systems. That's why free text searching is so inaccurate, and why keyword searching was invented by librarians as at least one of the better alternatives, long ago. And even then, working out alternative names was scary!

Don't get me going on computer bods designing any database or data collection module. Long ago, now, I was in a team creating our first library database (on the users side ie librarian). The systems analyst said - we'll made the title the ID - to which comment were shouted from all directions - "NO!". It didn't take long to show him why not - even in a technical library. We were surrounded by examples. Or filling out forms which cannot understand that not everyone has a mobile phone!!

Chessie, That's how I arrived at my rate, average for the year from BoF. Not the one given in Connexion, but my financial man agreed with my figures .. as you say, add up all UK income, convert at that rate and away you go. Impots have bigger fish to fry that worrying about UK pensioners income ... Good luck with the forms, yes, I am usually like you, but I am on holiday in May, so started early this year!

Hi Mint, n'importe! The only thing I get over here is the state pension which comes converted directly, hubby's come already converted to, so it is only my UK income, which never comes across (I use my UK credit card on and off, so it pays for that without bringing it over,) and that I convert the UK income en masse once I've added up the totals, and done the necessary for the calculations. Like you I'm hoping to be off to the UK in May, so wanted to get the tax forms over and done with soonest. Good luck on the op .. I had another PET scan yesterday, hoping that it will tell me what we are all hoping it will next week!

Mint, as I don;t trasnfer monies across, I keep an record of the daily exhange rate and looked at the BoF average for the year .. and I averaged it out .. which was 1.16, not the 1.146 (I think) which is being quoted. As I did it 2 weeks ago, I cannot now rememebr teh actual rate, but it was that ballpark figure. Quite honestly as long as you are in the ballpark they are not going to worry too much. If my figures are somewhat similar to last year, maybe with a small increase or not, depending on the rate, I don't worry. Bonne chance.

THanks NIck, still struggling to find another section swhich mysterously does not appear on line .. must have missed ticking something!

Yes, there is.. and yes, it is advantageous, stops you paying certain taxes on certain income. On 2042, in divers, there should be a box 8SH (for first declarant) and 8SI for second. Tick them. I do also still put a note in the "express mention" section, but techincally it should not now be necessary. It is pretty well hidden in fact, I missed the first year it appeared. Obligatory, probably not, but if you don't, you'll pay more tax.

SueyH, I can't answer thaat entirely as I'm stil trying to find why I cannot find some sections (such as the ones for bank interest in 2047) as I go through the online versions. And some sections I don't know what to fill in. I don't have UK property so I can't answer that one either - sorry. I was giving it a pause untilI have time to get an answer for the impots, but that won't be that soon I expect, and I am pretty busy next week. The bulk is in, what it left is for us a mere bagatelle of amounts. If I find out more, I'll re-post.

Of the two places whose votes I have seen down here, it was Le Pen followed by Macron and then Melechon. Standard these days. Chatting to a French friend yessterday she says they are left to chose between the devil and the deep blue sea (not her words, but what she meant!). I can't see the French will be satisfied whatever the outcome.

Sueyh, thanks, brilliant. And yes, it looks like the on screen with no numbers as before! Typical. So if you have the usual combination of pensions, you will already know, I presume, what to do about the govt pensions. Your OAP is treated then as a private (in Fench terms) pension, and whether or not you get it directo to your French account (sensible they get the best rate poissible) it is treated as pension income and must be taxed in France. All prnsions recieved go in 12 on 2047 and then is transferred to 2042 .. which is where you do the split between govt and private .. hope that makes sense.

Sueyh, tried to edit the above, it didn't work!! For the OAP (I presume UK) it goes in as private income, ie it is NOT a govt pension which is for central and local govt pensions .. thus if you have any other pensions eg from personal or company pensions, they are treated as private. If you have no govt pensions, you can breathe more easily ... it is less complicated. But you will have to complete 2 forms, 2042 (the blue one) and 2047 (for foreign income). All pension income apart from govt (as defined above) is regarded as private. So in 2047 (which they have changed) but I think is section 12, it is the section I am questioning above), is where all your income wil go .. and then it will be transferred to 1AM if it is only you declaring on 2042. I have not yet managed to find a hard copy of the 2047 so cannot give you the section etc no. I cannot check whilst I am on here, so will get this posted and then go see.

Since this might be relevant, I also have been trying to fill the forms in. Here, we have a mixture of public (ie govt) which I know is taxed in the UK, and I am aware of where to put those, and private, which in our cases both include the OAP / state pension. But as you might know, they have yet again changed the forms! On 2047, where we put our total pension income, you now have to say what is prive and what is public .. and I really do not know which to choose. A good bulk of bubby's if govt, whereas my govt is not a lot. Any thoughts, oh knowlegeable ones? Thanks

Unfortunately, locally, there are no appointments yet. Beziers yes, but I'm not going into Beziers for it! No doubt once this rural area has caught up there will be!

I'm not a pet person, but Ziggy is a lovely little thing ... definitely needs cuddling by a special friend.

Paid 4 weely, so usually 13 a year. It might depend, if this is new for you, that your OH's payment started at a different time and missed one 4 wk period, but 13 is the correct number for a full year. No difference in gender allocations. To the best of my knowledge. It's what we have at any rate.

Thanks Lori. Happily "our" end was lucky this time.

Happily, for us NormaanH, this time it has gone the "other' way from us .. and yes, I know the road you mean into Beziers , of course. Very low lying and near to the river. If you are up in the town, yes, you should be safe enough .. it rises steeply enough from the river ... but as you say, it is what has to still come down from the Montagne noire which is worrying.

double post

Hope you are safe NormanH. I went to Bize MInervois yesterday - centre was flooded, biut not where I was, and I think it stopped, and has cleared excpet for the clean up. But then it moved onto your area. Happily, this time, it didn't come down our several local rivers .. but I didn't sleep well Friday night. Still raining, got sodden on the way back from church this morning!

Mint, Just PM'd you, I am now off to bed! J

Mint [email protected] should work. I don't have an email for you, either, messages always came though PM's before. Like you I can't find out how to PM, and Banana, I can see no black envelope anywhere either. Sorry, on Sundays I am always late looking at the forum, church am, then got involved in lots of other Sunday things .. sorry Judith