tinabee

[quote user="You can call me Betty"][quote user="cooperlola"][:D]  No need to apologise, Betty.  Nice to see your pretty face about the place.[:)][/quote] I'm hanging fire on the full-time move till the regs change to cover cheap cosmetic surgery [;-)] [/quote] It would appear that some individuals have already managed to scam the CMU for cosmetic surgery! - article from 2004 - http://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/economie/les-abus-de-la-cmu_22509.html  

[quote user="Sprogster"]coops, my bet is that whatever they come up with will have an associated price tag that will intentionally discourage lower income early retirees, as that is still the French political undercurrent.[/quote]   Seen on another forum that one of the current inactifs who has been assessed on "assets" rather than declared income has been quoted just over €9500 for a family of 4 for CMU, so it will be interesting to see what criteria are introduced . . .

Il est "un slinky" [:)] aussi appelé Ondamania (well it is according to Wikipédia) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slinky

I did sell quite a few things on eBay when I first came over to France some years ago as I wanted to clear some old clutter. I'm afraid I don't know the latest rules on eBay accounts. Do check out the postal costs though - there is no second class parcel post for international parcels any more in France, and other methods can work out quite expensive. If you want to be able to track a parcel you are stuck with Colissimo - not cheap! There was a tariff called Marchandise economique available for a while, but I think this has now gone as well. Unfortunately, La Poste appear to be doing something with their website at the moment (prices are due to rise on 1st July I think) and the international tariff pages are not accessible.

Unfortunately the post and packing cannot be deducted from turnover. If she has a good customer base, it may be easier just to keep the eBayUk account going, rather than register on eBay.fr and have to start from scratch on feedback ratings. Also, on eBay.fr customers do not expect to pay for any packaging, they will normally only pay the actual Colissimo charge for the weight.

[quote user="idun"] I agree, I reckon most people are decent and caring without any labels. I once discussed this with a psychiatrist that I know and he said that for many it was a necessity and often a crutch to help people in their lives and sometimes to actually live. If anyone would be a candidate for a crutch, it would probably be me at the moment, I have a big pile of bouse in my life at the moment, which is getting bigger by the minute. But no, I'll do what I can and get on with 'life'.   [/quote] Idun - I have to say thank you for increasing my French vocabulary [:)] Every time I see a word in one of your posts that I don't recognise, I look it up - bouse will be really useful for me (living in rural Normandy)[:D] BTW good luck dealing with your bouse - I hope it goes away soon

With a diabetic in the family I use apple juice instead of sugar to make compote and freeze it. Lovely with a bit of yoghurt  . . .

I beleive they were used to raise a granary off the ground so as to deter the entry of rodents who would eat the grain. 

Maybe something like this (or baby vegetables) with some dips http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/browse/default.aspx?N=4294965219&Ne=4294965303 Or a selection of English cheeses with crackers Or if you really want to blow their socks off - a packet of Bombay Mix [6]

There are regular trains between Portsmouth and Chichester - you can check times on www.thetrainline.com But for venturing further I would imagine you would need a car There is some info on bus services here - http://www.carlberry.co.uk/rfnshowl.asp?L1=CHI020 but depending on where you want to go, the services vary enormously (e.g. from every half hour to once a week!)

[quote user="CeeJay"]Recently sold house in Uk and looking at sending a substantial part to France for investment.I am keen on the Livret A but would like to know if it is possible to also open a livret de développement durable  at the same time. Does this have the same rules etc as the Livret A and what would the maximum amount be. I am not in the market for a share based investment but wish to keep, as far as possible, inflation down and ready access to my money. If I withdraw part during one year is it possible to top up again, not like an ISA? [/quote] Yes you can have a Livret A as well as an LDD. For the LDD the limit is 6000 euros and the current rate is 2% You can withdraw and deposit funds as you wish - there are no restrictions. If you are interested in a more long-term investment with tax advantages after 8 years, have a look at an Assurance Vie Fonds en Euros. This is a straightforward cash investment plan (no shares) which generally offers a better rate of interest than Livrets If you do a search on Assurance Vie on this site you will find a lot of info (you need to watch out for management fees and investment charges on some accounts)

Chorley cakes - yum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorley_cake  

[quote user="Théière"]Write in and complain, last time they tried it the number of complaints made them reverse the desicion quickly. Vote out the people responsable at the next AGM[/quote] If you have your voting form, it is very easy to vote online here https://secure.votebyinternet.com/nbs11/default.asp Also, in case you didn't know it, there is an area to make suggestions (this is generally available, not specifically related to the AGM) http://www.nationwide.co.uk/about_nationwide/membership_matters/suggestion_form.htm  

[quote user="mona"] RE: AGM vote suggest if you do nothing else you vote against the remuneration package proposed for the board     [/quote] looks like others out there are getting organised http://ukexpats-nationwide-agm.1055033.n5.nabble.com/

Just received my voting form for the Nationwide AGM - what do people think is the best way to make a protest vote?  I am pretty sure it won't make a blind bit of difference, but it might make me feel better for a couple of minutes [6]

[quote user="5-element"] I am very excited by a tip I gleaned off the internet somewhere. I regularly put something in a pan to cook, and then go upstairs (to the computer usually) - and forget it. This means I have pans that often get burnt. I have tried salt, bicarbonate of soda, boiling with this and that and then scraping, but the best tip I have ever come across is this, as you don't have to do ANYTHING! Just put the burnt pan in full sun - in about 24 hours, the burnt stuff will have dried up and shrunk, and will come off by itself. It does work! I have just put it to the test after burning some apricots left to stew for ....a couple of hours. MAGIC. And no need for any "huile de coude". [/quote] I often wondered why my neighbour put her big casserole pot out on the terrace [:)] Mind you, at the moment it is more likely to fill with rainwater . . .

[quote user="parsnips"]Hi,  Neither the new system or the previous one was ever designed to give back any tax paid in the UK. That tax has been taken in accordance with UK tax rules and is presumably correct. Because the income in question is taxable ONLY in the UK, the previous and present systems are designed to prevent that income from being taxed again in France. Because France deems it fair that such income should be "taken into account" to calculate the appropriate rate of french tax for any french taxable income,  they previously (in the "old" treaty), used the mechanism of the "taux effectif", which calculated an "average" rate for the whole income, then applied it only to french taxable income;  they now use the "credit" method , which while not taxing the exempt income, adds it to the french taxable portion  of the income , calculates a total tax bill and then gives a credit equal to the extra FRENCH tax calculated on the exempt portion of the total income.     It generally works out to the taxpayer's disadvantage, but this is not aimed specifically at UK expats, it merely brings the France / UK DTT, which previously was a very old and one- off arrangement, into line with France's treaties with a large number of other countries including the USA and Germany.  [/quote] Hi Fully understand the process and argument, and the fact that France want to get their share. It's just a bit depressing when the differences between UK tax and French tax are actually quantified in black and white [:(]

[quote user="allanb"][quote user="parsnips"][quote]EXEMPLE : Vous êtes marié sans enfant. En 2010, vous avez perçu : en France, un salaire de 30 000 € (après déduction forfaitaire pour frais de 10 %) ; en Allemagne, un salaire de 10 000 € (après déduction de 10 %). Votre revenu global (français + allemand) s'élève à 40 000 €. L'impôt correspondant pour 2 parts s'élève à 2 922 €. Le crédit d'impôt correspondant aux revenus de source allemande se calcule comme suit : 2 922 × 10 000 / 40 000 = 731 €. Ce crédit d'impôt s'impute sur l'impôt global."[/quote] (this is a similar calculation to that for the taux effectif , but used in a different way, the good thing is it seems to give the credit at the "taux effectif" rate --my note)[/quote]If this is indeed how it's computed, I'm not so sure it's a good thing.  The example implies that the German income was either 11,111€, from which tax of 1,111€ was deducted, or 10,000€, from which tax of 1,000€ was deducted.  I don't think it's clear which is meant, but anyway the poor taxpayer has paid either 1,111€ or 1,000€ in Germany, against which he's getting a credit of only 731€ against his French tax. Is that your understanding of how it works? [/quote] AllanB - it's actually worse! Looking at the figures provided, for UK income which has already been taxed in the UK, the French tax credit is less than a third of the UK tax paid [:'(]

[quote user="cooperlola"] A working member of this forum posted the percentages here once and the healthcare portion of the cotis was certainly higher than the 8% which CMUers pay.  IIRC it was something like 12% but yes, you are right Idun, it does vary.  However, my belief is that CMU is low compared to other caisses as it was originally designed for those residents who had no other healthcare safety net and  the pre-retired non French EU citizens were included for the sake of simplicity. [/quote] Info here on the percentages paid by employers and employees for all cotisations including healthcare http://www.net-iris.fr/indices-taux/4-cotisations-sociales-taux-et-assiettes-des-charges.php

Another update. Flers tax office in Orne did not make any notifications of changes before the tax forms were submitted, so we completed them the same as in previous years. They have now sent out a letter in French and English to explain the new process and have also sent copies of the relevant sections of the forms (2042 and 2047) that have been modified by the tax office. They have also included an evaluation of the tax situation (effectively the same information you normally receive on the AVIS) and the outcome is that we will pay more tax now, using the new reporting system.[:(]

Newsflash http://www.french-property.com/news/french_health/early_retirees_cmu/

Have a look here - there is a section on "temporarily working in UK and resident in France" http://www.french-property.com/guides/france/public-services/health/getting-health-cover/living-abroad/

We used to get the daily shower spray stuff when we lived in the UK to stop scale/soap residue on shower glass. Since it is not available in France we now find a spray bottle of water with a teaspoon of washing-up liquid is just as good! I get the washing up liquid that says it makes your glasses shine - it lasts ages.

[quote user="AnthonyDrake"]KPMG have produced this informative article: http://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/NewsReleases/Pages/French-tax-rules-hit-Brtions.aspx [/quote] Unfortunately the article appears to contain at least one error that I can see. It states that the new tax will be the same as tax d'habitation, but my understanding is that the tax d'habitation calculation is dependent upon rates voted by local authorities, not a standard 20%  

[quote user="kimg"]its all very clever.  If i bring my uk sky card to france, it only works on a limited basis, and allows me to get a very few more channels.  |It wont let me get my subscribed channels and tells me im using the right card with the wrong box.  I assume that if i bring my uk card+ uk box, it will work fine.......... kim [/quote] yes - each card is "associated" with a particular box when it is set up, so if you bring box and card it should work