busybee

I was invited to a presentation given by Lot Tourisme at our local mairie yesterday. They were introducing the new system of  classification which will apply to gites (and other holiday locations). This is based on a law that was passed in 2009 to reform and modernise tourism My understanding of rapidly spoken French is a bit shaky, but I got the key points. The existing classifications (stars) which come from the prefecture will expire in July 2012. The visit to check that an independant gite meets the criteria for the applied-for classification will cost €145 (in the Lot at least) and €100 for a second property at the same address.  A request then needs to be filed with the prefecture, and when the classification is awarded a declaration is made to your local mairie. The classification will be valid for 5 years. Those who are covered by Gites de France or Cle Vacance will have a single visit to classify for both, which I think will be carried out by these agencies.  Having a classification is not compulsory, but it will entitle you to the 71% abattement on your income before tax in the Micro BIC regime. Otherwise the abattement will be only 50%. The organisation in charge of the rollout of the new system is ATOUT France. More information on their website at http://www.classement.atout-france.fr

There is an area between Carcassonne and Montpelier, M621 Plaines de Languedoc, on the map, but I don't know any more about it.

I have created a website in English giving lots of information about the issues surrounding Shale Gas exploration in France, including links to the petition and many informative and interesting articles. This is a serious issue that could dramatically change the environment in many areas of France and in my opinion, it is in danger of being rushed into without fully understanding the long term implications. The government of Quebec have just taken note of their environmental impact report into Shale Gas (which took 6 months to complete) and decided to call a halt to any further exploration until a more detailed report can be produced. There are too many unanswered questions. I hope that the French government will follow their lead and make sure that this is the right thing to do before allowing drilling to commence. Here in Midi Pyrenees the local government officials seem to all be against it, but I think a lot of protest is going to be needed to stop it happening. Do please get informed on this topic and make up your own minds.

This problem with chestnut trees is due to the Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner Moth. (Cameraria ohridella) The larvae overwinter in the fallen leaves, and will hatch to start the cycle over again in late spring, when you will start to see brown spots appearing on the leaves. The advice to sweep up and burn all the leaves is therefore sound advice. I have noticed that where this occurs regularly the trees looked a lot healthier and kept their leaves until autumn, whereas the badly affected trees started losing their leaves in August. In some cases, they will grow new leaves and even start to blossom again in the autumn. I understand that this attack should not cause the trees to die, as the damage occurs late in the season. Therefore there is no reason to fell the trees. More information at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/INFD-68JJRC or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameraria_ohridella

Thanks very much, it was because my pension is declared on the 2047 and then carried over to 2042, that I thought perhaps the same should be done for all money received into our UK account- in these days of bank 'transparency' one wonders whether eventually they will want to know everything! Because we move money from one account to another in the Uk to get better interest, and then to our a/c in France every so often, it probably looks like we are money laundering! Overall I have found the French tax forms no more complicated than the UK ones, once you know which bits apply to you. Taxation is always a foreign language busybee

Doesn't anyone have an answer to this for me? I would be grateful for your help please. Thanks, busybee

Hi, First of all, thanks so much for all the excellent information and useful links on this site, which have helped me enormously in preparing our first tax return. I have a query which I have not found another reference for - Most of the gite rental income that we received last summer was actually paid by our UK clients directly into our UK bank account. I am guessing that as the income is for our property in France it just goes into box NO / OO in euro equivalent on 2042C - or do I need to declare it separately on 2047, and if so, where? Thanks, busybee

I just wanted to let you know that my husband went into CPAM in Cahors today (26/2/08), and was told that we are now in the CMU (expired E106 holders).  Hooray! [:D] So with much relief we would like to thank everyone concerned for the advice, the lobbying and all the useful information.  [B] Hopefully he will not have to wait too long to get his surgery re-scheduled. Regards, busybee

Update on our situation: We went into CPAM (in Cahors, Lot) today, to give them our application for CMU base (as advised by CLEISS). We were told that there is no such thing as CMU base anymore. Not for anyone. Obviously the staff there are aware that there is information at large to the contrary, but they still are waiting for a new directive to tell them so. They did accept our application, but were unable to give us any warm and fuzzy feeling about when we might expect an end to our current situation, in which we are competely without medical cover. My husband has been obliged to cancel the operation which was planned for this week, as we could get no guarantee that the costs would be reimbursed. The only suggestions that CPAM staff could offer was to register ourselves as some kind of business or entreprise individuelle; which my husband is reluctant to commit to until after the successful conclusion of surgery. In any case, why should we do that when apparently we are entitled to join the CMU? We live in hope that the directive will arrive and that this will be resolved in the not too distant future. It would have been helpful if the UK could find a way to extend coverage through the E106 whilst this matter remains  unresolved. As it is, we remain in limbo and presumably, illegally resident. I noticed that the wording of the new statement implies that there is a choice for inactifs who meet the two conditions of residency and having an E106 on Nov 23rd. They may join if they wish. Does this mean that in fact we will be allowed to have PHI, or is there some other option that I am not aware of? I shall be glad to read the first positive posting from anyone who successfully gets into, or back into the CMU! [8-)]

[quote user="cooperlola"]  The advice is to contact CLEISS (the Helpdesk in France for international mobility and social security) on 00 33 1 45 26 33 41, website: www.cleiss.fr for emergency cases, as they are best placed to help in an urgent situation.[/quote] I have contacted CLEISS and they were very re-assuring and helpful ( I spoke to a lady in their translation department initially, and was given a direct line to call, for the reglement de communitaire. When I had some difficulty understanding what I was being told, they referred me back to the translation department, who clarified). They did say that instructions should be forthcoming to CPAM next week, but that in the meantime, we should submit a dated application for CMU. Thanks again for your help.

Yes, I've added a comment to that blog, thanks for the link. I note that a number of people there have stated that their Carte Vitales run out at the end of March. Does that mean than we can in fact continue to use them until then? It would be a great relief if we could get through the next fortnight! Thanks for all your efforts on behalf of us all.

Have you had any luck with CPAM? We received a letter at the end of Jan to say that we needed to update our Carte Vitales as our E106 had expired. We went in armed with the letter from the Minster of Health, but were told that  it says she will "ask the director of Social Security to send a circular", and such a circular has not yet been received. We are still waiting for them to confirm the arrival of the new instructions. We are in a pickle, as my husband is due to have a cataract operation next week, and CPAM are still waiting for the new directive to appear on their desks. We probably can't get Private Health Insurance for an existing condition, and in any case the Insurance companies are now saying that they won't be able to cover us if we are entitled to remain in the CMU. Feel like we are caught in limbo.

Here is a useful link about CC http://www.le-rsi.fr/affiliation_et_cotisations/cotisations_conjoints_collaborateurs/statut_conjoint_collaborateur.php I don't see anything about restrictions to the type of work undertaken, or the duration. I guess all will become clear in time....

Thanks for your response Nick. The problem I foresee if we set up as a chambre d'hote, is that we will be limited to that aspect of the business, and will not be able to work as an artist or photographer in addition. I can see that there are a number of other people running residential courses and activity holidays over here in one form or another, but it is impossible to tell how they have set up their business structure (if indeed they have...) - so if anyone else is actually doing this I would love to hear from them.   Can you clarify, if we set up a SARL or EURL, can we define the business to include providing residential courses AND photography, graphic design etc.? I did think that as a conjoint collabarateur that you could do the work, but wouldn't get paid for it, so thanks for that clarification. Regards, busybee

Hi, I have just joined this interesting forum, but haven't found anything yet that answers my specific questions. Am rather confused by all I have read so far about running a business in France and looking for clarification. We are proposing to run residential courses, such as painting or photography. 1. Is it necessary to both register as a business and also register as an artist? I can't figure out whether the business registration encompasses all the activities within it or not. 2. Can  we supply accommodation and meals without having to also register as a chambre d'hote?  We don't intened to operate as a chambre d'hote, but that's the only thing I've been able to find about supplying meals. Are there any other regulations I should know about in this regard? 3. If my husband does the teaching and I provide the meals, do we have to create a SARL, or can I be a collaborateur conjoint to an EI or EURL? We will be talking to the local mairie and chamber of commerce about this, and also an accountant, but I would really appreciate any guidance that you may be able to offer from your experience before I go and put my foot in it!... Thanks so much busybee