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Wisigoth

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Everything posted by Wisigoth

  1. Hooray! I got notification last week that they were going to pay. I've checked the bank account and it's there. It took about a month after submitting the forms a second time. I can't complain as that's not bad going. However, does anyone else have mail going astray? The whole reason I scanned the completed forms is because we've had so much mail either never reached us, or never reached the people we sent to. At first, I thought it was specific post boxes in town that were unreliable but now our lovely post lady collects our outgoing mail from our own box and things still go missing.
  2. I bought a new car in December, covered by the Ecobonus scheme, so I duly filled in and posted the forms (having scanned the completed paperwork). And waited for my 400 euros....... and waited........and waited. Two months on, I decided to ring them to find out what was happening. I was told by a totally automated service that there were too many calls in the queue and I must ring another time. I rang... and rang... and even when I rang dead on opening time in the morning, I had the same reply. So I emailed. Eureka! They replied that they'd never received my forms. No probs, I just printed them out again and put them in the post. I emailed again to see if they'd received them. Yes they had, but due to problems of the tésorerie and finance law of 2012, they told me not to expect payment any time soon. Has anyone had any success with this or is it all just a con?
  3. We've had one for 625,00€.  The scary thing about this scam is that someone has supplied them with detailed information about our business - address, siret, type of business and THE EXACT DATE WE SET UP.  Unlike the Internet phishing and Nigerian scams, these people have a veneer of legitimacy as they have so much detail.   As France is not our target market, we think this must have been supplied to them by someone involved in the French admin system - perhaps CCI, URRSAF  or the real RSI .....
  4. We're stuck with the Entreprise Individuelle for the rest of this fiscal year and we might as well stay with these accountants since we've already started sending our expenses to them. After that we'll be an Auto Entrepreneur and we won't need an accountant.  I agree, you would expect an Expert Comptable to know his stuff as they charge 1000 euros per year, but I'd definitely say to anyone who's thinking of employing an accountant (compulsory, I believe, if you are on the Entreprise Individuelle or Benefice Réel), to get a recommendation from someone in a similar business if possible.  It was my hairdresser who recommended this company and I don't think they have ever had anyone with a "Board and Lodgings + workshops" based business. As for recourse, no way.  He's still telling us that we are better off on the exsisting scheme as we can deduct our expenses.  However, we have to fight to be allowed to claim anything other than the basics. One example I fought and won, was provisions for the swimming pool, which we've no time to use ourselves as we're too busy with guests. As for the old caravan we bought solely so we could give up our own room to guests during the season, (it's never moved since the day we bought it and I don't think it could), - we were told that there's no way the authorities would allow us to claim for that as it would be counted as personal. It was early days and although we shouldn't have, we accepted that, but I wish I had thought of asking him if that meant that the income for the room we are vacating is also personal.  We're deducting everything we can possibly think of now - we're going on a city break for a few days in connection with the business where my OH will be honing his professional skills and  researching a book he's planning to write.  I mentioned to the secretary that I would be sending in the hotel and air ticket costs and she looked horrified.  "Mais non, c'est personelle" she said. I'll make a stand, when the crunch time comes.   Another bugbear is that we have to eat regularly in restaurants with the guests (we go to the same places every week and get sick of it) yet we cannot claim for our own meals.  I'm sure eating out with clients in the UK is a legitimate deductible business expense.   We never had an accountant in UK but I always thought they suggested ways to save you money instead of finding ways to stop you claiming.  Well, that's my whinge for the day.  We love living in France and even with this struggle, we wouldn't swap.  I hope others can benefit from our experience.
  5. Hooray [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D] The accountant wrote back this morning and admitted he was wrong (bless him).  He didn't realise that Ch D came under Marchandises.  I can just imagine how bad he felt when it dawned on him [:(] as our decision to not become AE this year was based on how close we were to the threshold of 32 600.  He's very young and probably just out of accountancy school. However,  onward and upward. We have to continue on the present scheme for the rest of the year but we will put through every expense we can think of to make sure we don't need to re-equip next year, when we will become an AE. A big THANK YOU, Albert for your wisdom and support.
  6. I've sat down and done my best to get to grips with the superb info link you sent (especially p23) and looked at a few other sites in French and in English and I do believe I'm starting to understand it.  What puzzled me was knowing the difference between Commerce and Service and understanding where we fall.  I think its mainly Commerce (for the Chambres d'hotes) with a bit of Service for the rest.  So it looks like we can turn over up to 80 000 euros for the Ch D and up to 32 000 for the other bits and pay 13% charges on the Ch D and 23% on the rest. It seems our accountant thinks that Chambres d'hotes comes under Services so I've sent him links to websites which suggest that they don't. There's been times, like when we got a 7 000 euro bill in November from the RSI  and another one for 665 euros this February that we weren't expecting on top of our regular payments, that we've thought of packing it all in and leaving the country.[:(]   My OH has been telling me to give up on this but I really feel I'm nearing a breakthrough. I'm swinging between thinking the accountant and the CCI have both got it spectacularly wrong ..... (scary) ..... and we've paid thousands more than we should have done in the last couple of years (and will continue to do so this year), but on the other hand, surely they can't both be wrong as its their job to understand businesses and charges involved.  I notice that this forum has had lots of views.  I expect the accountant will reply to my email this week so I'll let you all know how I get on.
  7. Thanks for the help - it was very kind of you to take the trouble. I cast my eye over the link you sent (I struggled to understand it even though it had been translated into English) and  I emailed the accountant to see if we could split the business into two separate businesses "his 'n hers".  I could have the Chambres d'hote business and my OH could have the teaching part.  He ignored that suggestion (at least I think he did- my French is good but I'm lost with jargon whatever the language).  He basically told us we oughtn't to bother as it's not 13% after all, it's 21.3%.  " Le taux de cotisations pour les prestataires de services n’est pas de 13% mais de 21.3% d’où cotisations à payer = 30 000*0.213 = 6 390 €   Pas vraiment de gains" He pointed out that last year our total takings were 32 600, which is 200 euros over the Auto Entrepreneur ceiling so we couldn't be an AE.  When we set up the business, Chambres d'hote plus extras, we did it though the Chambre de Commerce and they never mentioned 13%.  They said for the system we first went on, where we didn't need an accountant (microbic, I think), they told us the tax and social charges would be 45% of 45% (which is 20.25%) of the gross.  Is there really anyone out there paying only 13%, or is it a myth, as our accountant seems to suggest .  If anyone can tell us how to do it, they are a genius.[8-)]
  8. Can anyone help us – we feel like we’re wading through treacle [8-)]. We have a very young French accountant, who seems to know what he’s doing, but the reason we’ve come to the forum is that he doesn’t make suggestions on how we could be more cost effective. Every now and then we think there must be a better way.    The bulk of our gross comes from a Holiday Enterprise (Chambres d’hote with lessons), which we set up three years ago with some administrative help from the CCI. We are an Entreprise Individuelle as our total gross takings border the €32,000 threshold of the Auto Entrepreneur.  We collect our guests from the airport and give full board and educational outings and lessons for seven days. Last year we grossed about €2700 a week for ten events but the costs are high.  To a lesser extent, we also sell lessons over the Internet and give local private lessons, both of which have relatively low costs.    Our gross for last year was around €30,000 and after deductions including €7500 in tax and social charges, our net was €15,000 [:(]  .     Taxes are-  5% of gross plus taxe de sejour on the holidays, 19.6% on the internet lessons and 0% tax on the lessons attended by locals.   Social charges are about 35% of our annual net after deducting food, petrol etc.   I read on the forum that gites and chambres d’hotes only pay 12% social charges and it just made me wonder if there would be a better way for us.  Can anyone help or suggest an organisation that could advise us?
  9. Sounds a good idea, Suze, provided they don't block ordering whilst in France (which is surely against the "download from anywhere policy" anyway). We'd decided if we were forced to use .com, we'd have to buy one for our daughter in UK and register all of them together. At worst, she'd have to order our books for us too. If only we could pinpoint the criteria Amazon use to decide which of us are excluded from .co.uk. That would be very useful.
  10. I’ve been sitting reading this forum from the start (sad, I know but I just got drawn in). So although ostensibly I’m replying to you, Suze, I’ve a few more comments to make besides. My OH and I have a Kindle each, bought via daughter in UK last autumn. I chose the UK route after comparing prices – I think K3G + protective cover was about 30% more via amazon.com. I’ve read with trepidation of Cathy, John and Mrs N’s problems of being refused from buying books from co.uk. We plan to sell off the majority of our paper books at the next Vide Grenier and I don’t know what we’d do without the Kindles.I was recommending the Kindle to friends in France only this week, but having read the problems of buying books, I’ve quickly drawn their attention to this forum so that they can weigh up the risks, themselves. I have been trying to work our why we are lucky enough to continue buying books through .co.uk. When they arrived from UK they were registered to .com and we had to change the country in Manage my Kindle. Our cards are with a British bank but registered to our French address. However, OH and I have both had Amazon.co.uk accounts since before we moved to France. Also, we have had in the past, and continue to have our daughter’s address as one of our delivery options. I hope we will be able to continue to purchase from .co.uk. You’ll probably pay bank charges to buy books from .com. I bought a couple of books from US before I figured out how to change country and one of the books, I bought in error (it’s so easy to press the default button by mistake). I got my refund but I was annoyed that the currency conversion charge, was not refunded. So watch out for that if you buy from .com. It seems wrong that I wouldn’t be allowed to buy from .co.uk with my sterling bank card and I am forced to pay bank charges to buy in dollars. We have one 3G and one WiFi model and I picked up a great tip on a forum – they are both registered in the same name so we can both access the archive and read any of the books (we can both read the same book at the same time if we want to).
  11. That's absoloutely brilliant, Stan. Thanks for that. The invoice I printed out (emailed by Amazon) didn't specify a VAT rate so our accountant would probably have ignored it. I was going to hand that one in. But we got a little self-adhesive note (address peeled off) in the package, which does indeed specify 19.6%. I'll give that to our accountant and hopefully, we'll get that back. I shall buy from Amazon UK with much more confidence in the future. WELL DONE THAT MAN!
  12. Thanks for all your help.  My most recent purchase with “VAT included” was from Amazon UK.  I looked at other suppliers and even taking off the VAT, they were charging more.  I always try to buy stuff in France but sometimes its either not available here or even with VAT included, it’s cheaper in UK.  I think I’ll just take Stan’s advice and “grin and bear it”.
  13. Thanks both, I thought I would have to apply to UK Customs and Excise, as it is they who have the VAT I paid.  Part of my reason for thinking this is that VistaPrint (a Dutch company we have used) invite you to apply to the Tax Office in Holland to reclaim tax on your purchases, although for us, the amount is small so I haven’t bothered.  We have a French accountant (with limited English) and we put through some big purchases last year from UK but he’s never suggested he apply to French authorities for tax paid in UK on our behalf.  I assumed, like with the Dutch company, it would be the UK that we had to deal with.
  14. As our business is registered in France for TVA, our income tax is worked out by deducting TVA we’ve paid on goods, from the TVA we have received from our customers.  When purchasing advertising or certain goods from the UK, we ask for the VAT to be deducted at source since we can’t claim it back in France against TVA.  However, not all British companies will do this as it involves extra paperwork for them.  These companies pay the VAT to the British Customs and Excise so I was wondering if anyone has tried claiming this duty back.  I can’t find anything on Directgov.  Is there anyone who has experienced this and can tell me who to contact.
  15. Wisigoth

    Insect Bite

    I was sitting outside on the terrace last night when a little itch I had been ignoring became uncomfortable. I looked down and saw a small beetle type creature (roundish and about 2 mm in size). I knocked it off quickly in a reflex action and although I had no reaction to it last night, today it is an itchy lump. This also happened to me last October, also outside and again, the culprit being a small beetle. The lump itched for a few days last time - nothing serious - but I'm curious to know what it is. I asked my hairdresser but she couldn't suggest anything. Does anyone have any ideas what it might be?
  16. I’ve just discovered a small wasp nest behind the shutter less than a metre from our table – so mystery over.  It must have been a nervous, overprotective wasp.   Whilst researching, I came across a good tip for dealing with bites and stings – place a cup of hot drink on the bite.  It denatures the protein in the bump under the skin and the increased blood flow removes the broken down residue.  It does seem to work very well – the itching disappears instantly and doesn’t return.
  17. Thanks Cathy I think you are right.  This is our first September here - I don't know if horsefly bites are seasonal - and we haven't encountered them before although we've had the house for six years.  I've had a look at photos of them on the internet after reading your reply and I've seen some around.  It did seem to be much quicker than a wasp as I didn't even get a look at it.  Our poor guest has quite an angry bump on her arm. I'm glad it wasn't a wasp since I've got quite a respect for them as they do a good job in the garden.    I don't know if horseflies are territorial - all four encounters have been on the terrace and yet we spend time in other areas of the garden.  Reluctantly I've put a wasp trap out but I don't know if this will attract them.  I feel a bit nervous going out onto the terrace now.  However, it's helpful to know what I'm up against. Thanks for your help Lesley  
  18. Does anyone know anything about wasps?  I'm assuming that it is a wasp causing the problems because I've only heard it buzz as it delivers its sting - I haven't seen it as it's too quick.  We do Chambres d'hote and this week two of our guests were stung as they sat chatting over a cup of tea round the table on the terrace.  The day after, I was stung as I walked back to the house after watering the pots on the terrace.  My son was stung a couple of weeks ago as he tried to put up the parasol over the table - all on the terrace.  We're starting to think twice before going outside.  I thought wasps only stung you if you bothered them but it seems not.  Is this common at this time of year or is this aggressive wasp a one off?  I've looked round for nests but I can't see any.
  19. Our local CAT (www.ateliers-chantecler.com) charges either 0.65 or 0.85cts plus tva per sheet for washing and ironing depending whether they are poly-cotton or linen and 0.30cts for a pillowcase.  I took 10 sheets the first time. They know we have four guest bedrooms and don't go every week so I think we've done very well.
  20. Thanks, everyone, for all your help and advice.  I don't wish to subscribe to Sky HD so I will continue down the SD route for the moment. I'll see what's available on Ebay. Lesley
  21. At our house in France our old Amstrad Skybox satellite decoder is becoming unreliable. We are also replacing the TV shortly and I was wondering if it would be worth getting HD for both box and TV.  We do not have a subscription but we like to watch all the usual free ones including channels 4&5.  I know there’s not much about in HD at the moment but I’m hoping to get 10-15 years use out of the new equipment.  Would I be obliged to get a Sky brand box for HD (these are only available on contract, I understand) or could I go for a Pace HD or other brand and still get the usual channels?
  22. Has anyone tried "Onspeed"?  It's about £25 and is supposed to speed up your internet whether you have dial-up, broadband or even using a mobile phone.  The review I read was full of praise and some big names (Computer Active Magazine I think) were endorsing it.
  23. I believe the vines for seedless grapes are available for purchase in France but has anyone tried them and do they grow successfully?
  24. What's a Freesat card?  How does it differ from the one supplied by my Englishman-in-France satellite engineer four years ago, which I had to inaugurate from my phone in the UK.  If I go for a new box I would much prefer to pay £20 for a card that wasn't going to be cancelled if I turned my set for a few weeks and which I didn't have to pretend I was in England for. I thought the problem with freeview Channel 4 & 5 cards was something to do with not being in the UK as we were told never to phone them from France.  However, a friend has a place in Devon and has just had Sky fitted.  Her engineer also told her to leave the set switched on to preserve the card. Does a £20 Freesat card mean no more cloak and dagger and can I ring from France to validate it?
  25. Thanks for the tips.  The efflorescence one I will definitely try.  I tried cleaning the bathroom tiles up before the leak turned them black, white and mouldy, using a red "cire tomette" wax. It did improve them but I couldn't get a shine.  I thought I might need to buy one of those big polishing machines they use in schools but perhaps I need to put a product on to make them shine again. I'm wary though. I wondered if I needed to strip the seal off all of them to make them even.  The job is sounding very big again.  Perhaps the Pages Jaunes will turn up someone to do it for me.
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