bigears

hi checked the stirling v australian dollar rate the other day it was about 1 : 1.8, so no hols there, it was around 2.5 a year and a half ago.  It's also well down on the nz dollar.  Going to morocco this winter expect its down against it's currency.  The uk isn't doing well and the labour politicians want the electorate to vote for them.   Not sure if the other lot are any more competent.  Anyway Blair will sort out the eu if he gets the top job.

hi Dual mass flywheels can be a problem particularly in more powerfull cars and vans carrying heavy loads.  VW tdi engines devour them as do transit mk6s.  If you have to change one at the first clutch change here in france I would expect the bill to be huge, well over 1000 euros.  Best to buy a used vehicle after a clutch/dmf change, on a vw any mileage up to 90k miles.

The issue for me is how expensive france has become in the last 10 years.  Just come back from germany/austria and found basic food stuffs cheaper than france.

Its going down...down...down. plus high prices in france,  its not funny.  

Nothing at the moment. we both have full ncb in both countries, was wondering if we had an incident in one country would it be known in the other, thats all.

hi Am going to swap our uk based car to lv, they give upto 6 months european cover.  Does anyone know if uk and french insurance companies exchange information.

hi I'm almost used to just converting (in my head) one for one now.  We will all get used to it eventually.  1.20 is the best we can ever hope for wilh a low of parity, the good old days are gone forever.  The good news is when you sell and exchange euros for sterling, its a good deal. 

In my view its GB that is the problem in such a debate, the nhs system should have some more stringent qualifying rules, rather than being open to all comers.  Things will change. 

Inactive early retirees have effectively been stopped from coming to live permanently in france without working.  Keep a property in the uk, buy a maison secondaire in france and enjoy the good life.  Make sure you travel back to the uk regularly on those nice cheap flights,  its a good idea to see friends and relations. 

hi I've just bought a very nice one owner golf mk5 sdi not yet 4 years old in the uk for 3500.  Its to stay in the uk as our uk based car.  If I wanted a car for france I would look on ebay uk for a lhd.  Rhd in france is for me not the way to go even if uk secondhand prices are cheaper.

who........where..............

hi been offered a uk touring caravan for not much money.  Thought we could us it to accomodate extra guests or for the grand kids to sleep in at our holiday home.  Thought we could also tow it ocassionally with our uk reged car down to spain maybe once a year.   Are there any french regulations that might be infringed by doing this?

Always fly back to the uk before and after going to other countries such as in the example saudi, then the french will not be able to claim you have spent more time there than any other country.

hi so the french tax man has a 183 day rule and they do apply it. I personally havn't heard this, I have only heard the opposite where they cannot be bothered to open up a dossier. My brief chat to a tax person was ended abruptly when I said I had a house which was my principal residence in the uk. To track an individuals movements will have a significant cost in time and money and it will give limited information. I cannot see it being done routinely, except for a mr big type. If people have personal experience of the french tax people agressivly investigatihg them in a very thorough way, using that sort of evidence please share it, I'm sure a lot of us would like to know., especially if its someone just straying over the 183 days whilst doing up a maison secondaire.

hi so if you make a tax declaration in france you are tax resident in france and therefore regarded as domicile in france. Did someone not say you can only be domicile in one member state? With regard to the original post. I was in that same positio 4 years ago when I retired in my mid 50s. I stayed the majority of the first year in france whilst doing renovation work whilst my wife continued to work in the uk full time. She has since retired, but still works pt a little in the uk. She spends no more than 6 months a year in france and I a little more, we could not say absolutely as we don't keep records. My advice to the poster would be as I have already stated in the two previus posts. You experts can discus the official position but in practice I would say the french tax man would not be interested in such cases unless they were a mr big type. By all means discus these issues its very interesting but be carefull what advice you give to people who might actually take it and cause problems for themselves somewhere down the line. I'll be back to sunny france soon away from this dreadfull uk weather.

i've already got two french registered vehicles and don't want to go through the process with another, particularly a rhd. The motorhome will be touring europe and beyond very regularly, so it won't be staying in france for 6 months. We have actually decided we don't want to commit that amount of cash and will be keeping our trusty rusty transit westfalia euroline which is lhd and french registered. Unfortunately as we are uk resident we are not supposed to take it back to the uk. You cannot win.

Will, so I, a uk resident (non active early retired) can file a tax return in france as a result of staying for 8 months a year in france and receive nhs treatment in the uk and presumably treatment in france via a uk ehic? Does the french house still have the status as maison secondaire? If this would allow us to sell our french property in a couple of years time without incurring any capytal gains tax I would certainly consider doing it. Does the selling notaire only check that you are fiscally resident in france rather than also chech the status of your property and where your health is provided?

hi For this type of stay in france, I wouls say that the best way forward is to maintain uk residency. Do not get hung up on a set figure of a certain number of days, also be careful you do not abuse your status in france by e.g. earning money or staying for very long periods without going back to the uk. Keep the centre of your economic and family interest in the uk and you will be ok. For me, some on this forum have been making misleading/innappropriate pronouncements on this type of situation for years. AnOther is not one of them.

nick, what information makes you say te vehicle will be illegal?

Will, how would konrad sort out his health provision if he elects to make a french tax declaration? Surely this aspect needs to be talked about.

Hi We have a legitimate uk address, we are uk residents, so I think thats probably the way forward.

someone told me saga did a 365 days away policy for motorhomes, does anyone know?

its not going to stay in france its going to be used to tour, when its not it will be based in france.

hi Here in the uk, I have seen a nearly new trigano tribute for a bargain price. We are thinking of buying it to keep at our french house so that we can more easily tour europe and beyond. I presume the first time we will be compelled to return to the uk will be for its first mot. We will of course keep it taxed and insured. Can anyone see any pitfalls.

hi I'm interested in the original post as we have 2 french reg vehicles and one uk reg vehicle. We too are uk resident and am aware things could get difficult if the gendarmes insist on a change of licence (after an offence that attracts points) and the prefecture indicates its not possible for a non french resident to exchange. I drive so carefully in france because of this very situation. It could be a bad suituation to find yourself in. Has anyone found themselves in this hole.