Jump to content

oscar

Members
  • Posts

    105
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

oscar's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

0

Reputation

  1. We're 50 and 52 and the last time we paid taxe d'hab was when we were second home owners.  Since we've lived here and filled out a tax form we've only ever been charged for the TV licence.
  2. oscar

    Bo Obama

    [quote user="Framboise"] Actually I am somewhat surprised that none of the holier-than-thou-anti-racism brigade have leapt upon their choice of name.    [/quote] Why?  Anyone or anything that is named after someone else could be accused in that case.
  3. Why go to St Malo and stay in a Formula One !!!!  The Hotel St Pierre, l'Univers or France et Chateaubriand are all within the old town and the only time I found any of them noisy was the night France won the World Cup.
  4. When we first moved to France I went down the (A) route and it was a nightmare.  There were other things to pay for apart from employee cotisations, which I didn't feel able to ask my employer to pay for as it had been my choice to come to France.  In the first six months of being here I earnt £11,000 but I paid out over £7,000!  I had looked into (c) before AE existed but as self-employed, but as albert says, it was difficult only having one employer.  Don't know about the (b) option, this seems pretty new and after my time of working for a UK company whilst living in France.
  5. The Manche young farmers association is holding it's annual show on 6th September this year in Beuvrigny, near Tessy sur vire.
  6. We had some guests staying with us just before Christmas from Alberta.  Apparently they are desparate for just about any trade, skilled or not and are doing promotional fairs in the UK to get people to move there.  He also said that it had been -30 for several days before Christmas.  Minus 3 here is cold enough for me!
  7. Our living room (where the TV is) is on the first floor and the dining room (where we will eat Christmas lunch) is on the ground floor, so two trees are called for.  We got a 2 metre one for downstairs and a one metre one for upstairs, 24€ the two.  Last year we paid 25€ for one!!
  8. Don't feel guilty about it.  The service is for those who need assistance and not like disabled parking in the UK and France where you need stickers that can only be obtained following doctorss' confirmation of disability.  My OH suffers from arthritis like you and needs to fully open the door to get in and out and struggles with stairs (ie she's very slow on them and gets embarrassed about holding other passengers up.  Last time we went on the Mt St Michel I booked for assistance and we were parked right by the lifts with plenty of space to open the car door to it's full extent, although on this particular occasion I think all cars could do this because they weren't particularly busy.  The steward was also very subtle in that he stood in the doorway ushering people up the stairs until we and another couple got to him, when he turned the other way and ushered us into the waiting lift.  It was the first time that we had used this service but would certainly do so again - WITHOUT feeling guilty!
  9. [quote user="Quillan"]Well I have just got back from Boules and this is a hot topic amongst the couple of Brits there and the French members. Apparently this two minute slot on the Politics show has been talked about on our regional TV channel. The outcome of it is that the Quillan Boule club are having a whip to buy some wood for the Brits who can't afford to heat their houses. If anyone wants to donate money (I have given 20 Euros) get in contact with me via a PM and I will tell you how to send it and yes I'm serious.[/quote] You are, of course, joking!  What makes the "needy" Brits of Quillan any more important than those in the rest of France?  Charity begins at home.
  10. Just to clarify the point of confusion over the entitlement of the subject of the show mentioned in the OP.  Although he may not be entitled to his OAP for another 3 years (that makes him 62) the WFA is payable from 60 - so this is why he believes he is entitled to it. Russethouse, you're right in what you say about him saving on a UK TV licence, however, he will be paying for a French one, even if he only watches UK TV, so the saving is not as great as you say.  Where he may be making a huge saving is if he drives a car as he will not be paying any road tax here in France.
  11. You tend to only have a feel for what the actual profits are by virtue of the fact that a B&B in France is run from your own home therefore your own electricity, gas, fuel, water consumption are all lumped in with the business as well as other grey areas - if you're doing table d'hotes as well, in the true sense of the word then you eat with your guests, so again, how much are you eating and how much are they eating?  It all starts to get a bit speculative.
  12. [quote user="Quillan"] Many things now in France use the tax form as proof of residence so even though you won't pay hardly any tax in France (initially) it could be to your advantage to complete and return one. [/quote] It's not really a question of whether it is to your advantage to complete a French tax form - if you live here it's the law - there is no choice. I'd also hesitate to set yourselves up as a full restaurant - cotisations will be very high - they won't take into account that you will only be cooking for the five rooms.  The way table d'hotes work is that the wine is included in the cost of the meal, so as long as you have your licence from the duanes (which is free) you don't need to register as a restaurant.  Of course, you can still go ahead with making sure that you have the kitchen set up professionally but if you, your husband and your son are hoping to make a living out of this then paying cotisations on a restaurant is going to take a large part of your earnings.  A lot of people don't understand when they first move to France that it isn't the income tax that cripples you - a lot never even get to the lowest thresshold - it's the social charges that can be incredibly high - and I wouldn't be surprised if there were two separate lots to pay if you are running chambres d'hotes and classing the table d'hotes as a restaurant.
  13. Shouldn't be a problem, you've got til 31 March to top up.  Last year we filled up in September and the criteria for buying fuel for the allowance was 1 November 2007 - 31 January 2008.  We topped up with 300 euros worth in mid-January and managed to get the 150 euro allowance.  The companies selling the oil are also being hit by the high prices so are usually prepared to let you have a small amount at the 1000 litre plus rate - or at least, they are round here.
  14. Glad to hear it's being confirmed by the ferry companies.  After getting a bit gloomy about next year it then occurred to us that in fact it may boost our business.  If people can't afford US or Far East holidays next year they may decide to do shorter breaks nearer to home.  That's exactly what we did in the early 90s when we couldn't afford a fortnight's holiday - 4 or 5 days in Normandy during off-peak times!  That's how we got to know the area and end up living here. My brother also confirmed last night that he won't be holidaying in England again next year.  He tried it this year but said he paid £80 a night B&B on average in 4 different B&Bs in Cornwall and Dorset and only one came anywhere near a reasonable standard.
  15. [quote user="Pads"]By the time you pay for some one to change over , advertise , pay income tax to the french and england is there much left ?[/quote] Not a lot but we used to find that it was enough to cover the taxe d'habitation, taxe fonciere, electricity abonnements and our own ferry costs to France, so for those with a maison secondaire who didn't normally rent it out, this "small extra income" may be just what they need. Friends of ours rent out 3 gites and get ALL school holidays, not just the summer ones; Christmas as well as June and September, so it can be a lot longer than the 6-8 weeks that some people think.
×
×
  • Create New...