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Daft Doctor

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Everything posted by Daft Doctor

  1. If you google 'eu referendum polls' it suggests it is pretty much neck and neck, though polls are only that and a lot are undecided.
  2. Hi, again. Really pleased to have started off such a lively discussion. I've looked at the Public Services website now and my conclusion is that having already been a full time resident in France for 4 years, even in the event of a Brexit vote next month, by the time any UK exit is formally effected, I will already have met France's own 5 year legal resident criteria for a right to a permanent stay. It will then be optional for me to obtain a renewable 10 year permanent resident CdS, but it would only serve as ID, which I believe my driving license does equally well. I am now spending a little time collecting together all the evidence I have that our stay since May 2012 has been continuous, just in case the question ever arises. The healthcare issue could arise in the future if Brexit occurs, but as Mrs DD is an AE and we get our healthcare through RSI, hopefully any potential changes to the policy for those currently holding S1's would be navigable.
  3. Hi, to be honest it is Mrs DD who is more concerned about it than I, Brexit or not. I am aware that any UK exit from the EU would take several years, and even then there may well be arrangements preventing the need for we current residents in France to do much. I just thought I'd gather some info to pass on, at least partly to reassure.
  4. Hey, NickP, no need for the aggression! It was only a suggestion from a good friend (who incidentally is very critical of the American record on arms and violent crime), who was NOT claiming to be an expert. I was only asking a straightforward theoretical question, NOT spreading scaremongering tales. As for a Brexit being 'highly unlikely', the polls are neck and neck, so I wouldn't dismiss the possibility so readily if I were you. My thoughts were simply that after June 23rd circumstances might well change, albeit not for a year or two, but nonetheless it might be bureaucratically easier and no disadvantage at all to get a C de Sjr now, rather than wait for a possible rush if or when it became a requirement. Is that such a ridiculous notion?? If anyone has any (reasoned) thoughts on the matter, please share.
  5. Hi, it seems that whether or not the UK stays in the EU is very finely balanced. I know that as an EU citizen we do not need a Carte de Sejour, but I believe you can still obtain one if so desired. My American friend suggested it might be worth we Brits getting one anyway, as it would protect our residency status was Brexit to become a reality. Does anyone have any knowledge, thoughts or insight on that theory?
  6. Hi Grecian, I have emailed the tax office twice, once after about 3 weeks to make sure they'd received everything, and after about 4 months. I was told everything had been forwarded to the legal section in Annecy, then after my second email I was told that there was a huge backlog of cases and I just had to wait. That was nearly 4 months ago however, and it's hard not to get frustrated when other areas of France seem to be dealing with things much more promptly.
  7. Still not a sausage at my end, now nearly 8 months since I sent in everything! Do I just sit tight, or are there any cages I can rattle?
  8. I have to balance it up a bit by saying that when I last went to the UK I rented a car from Europcar at Newcastle Airport, picking it up in the dark of the evening. I was given the paperwork and told to check the car before leaving the airport. I was also told however that I should recheck the car in the daylight the following morning and if the were any marks or damage not already listed, I was to ring Europcar and let them know. As long as it was within 24 hours, they would take what I said as gospel. As it happened there was an extra scratch or two, and it was no trouble to report them. That's how it should be done whenever delivery is taken in the dark, if only..............
  9. Hereford beat me to it. My wife has an eBay business and most of her goods go in (untracked) letters or small packets to the UK. Some of course do get lost, but very few. What is noticeable however is that while 80% of orders reach the buyers within 2-3 working days, the rest take 2-3 weeks. There doesn't appear to be a middle ground. Even though a letter is tracked, it doesn't mean it will be quick. I'd try to give it a couple of days, and if the tracking data hasn't changed and the packet hasn't turned up by then, then I'd cancel the tickets at very least.
  10. I too have a pension pot in the UK, which I shall be withdrawing in full next year, and I too have to file a UK self-assessment return as I have rental income in the UK. I was figuring that between January 1st and April 5th would be the best time for me to make the withdrawal, since as Hereford has explained, a refund of any UK tax deducted at source on the pot can be claimed thought prompt submission of the UK return, i.e. asap after 6th April. On the other hand, as far as French tax is concerned, the pot will be withdrawn in 2017, so the French tax & social charges won't be paid until September 2018, so good for cash flow!
  11. Hi Cathar Tours, all property income is taxed in the country in which it arises, so UK property income is in fact taxable in the UK. As a French tax resident, the UK rental income must be declared in France as part of worldwide income, which then determines the tax bands applicable to any income which is taxable in France. A proportional rebate is then given on the total tax bill by the French tax authorities to avoid dual taxation on the UK rental element. It could be that after deduction of the UK tax allowance there is little or no liability to UK tax, but this does not matter, it is only that it is taxable in the UK that counts under the dual tax treaty. In fact, overall it is probably cheaper having the UK rental income taxed in the UK and the rest of income in France, as it allows use of both UK and French personal allowances. That said however, it is not a matter of choice, the rules are the rules, and I'm sure others will verify that the position is as I've said above.
  12. Hi, I was told more or less the same in a rather dismissive reply to a polite email enquiry into the progress of my claim. I was told there was a huge backlog as many cases were held over while a decision was awaited from the Conseil d'Etat over how to deal with the issue after the Ruyter case. It was said that some unprocessed claims date back to 2013, so mine may have a long wait. Hopefully it will be worthwhile in the end!
  13. You're right Norman, there is certainly no indication that the need to contribute will change, and therefore the system will still differ widely from that of the UK. It will be interesting however to see if individual access to the new 'Protection universelle maladie' for former ayants droit will be cotisation free if their circumstances haven't changed, and at least one of the household has access to healthcare through employment, self-employment, or some other means. Either way, no change to the ayants droit status will be obligatory until 2020, by which time the dust will have settled, so no need for anyone to be panicking about 'un piggy-backing' quite yet.
  14. Hi again, the official document (which Norman kindly gave a link to) makes quite interesting reading. Firstly, the 'ayants droit' status will be phased out gradually, and those wishing to remain under that umbrella will be able to do so until 2020. For me therefore, the question of the need to contribute a further 8% in social charges in order to have access to CMUb cover is not so important as yet. Secondly, the document quite clearly states that all individuals with regular, stable residence in France will be entitled to cover at least under CMUb. Moreover, and relevant particularly to those of us early-retirees without employment or S1 coverage, the document clearly states that to qualify for state health cover will require having resided regularly in France for only 6 months, a move away from the 5 years previously adopted (and legislated against by the EU). If my understanding of the text is correct, it seems in fact that, rather unexpectedly, France is moving to a system of individual state health care entitlement based wholly on legitimate residency, much as exists in the UK, with a relatively short time threshold for obtaining such entitlement. The document goes on to say that instead of spending time and money checking on an individual's professional status, their legitimacy as an ayant droit, and any changes to these circumstances, etc, all checks can be concentrated on the issue of legitimate residency. The fact that ayants droit are being allowed to retain their status if desired until 2020 suggests that the motive for the change to universal individual rights to state heath cover isn't simply to rake in more cotisations from those losing the ayants droit status. It seems a genuine move to make the system more efficient, more user friendly, less bureaucratic and (in some circumstances) more confidential. For as long as the UK remains in the EU, the changes may be encouraging for those planning to take early retirement and migrate to France from the UK. Whereas the issue of the financial contribution to CMUb is not mentioned in the press document, it nonetheless means that the need to prove 5 years French residence and therefore to have paid 5 years of comprehensive private health cover to access the French healthcare system seems officially to be at an end.
  15. I'm not clear after reading the document how my situation will be affected financially. As an early retiree I pay social charges already on my NHS pension (7.1% in total) but am an ayant droit on my wife's RSI cover. If I am to have my own heathcare rights as a 'stable inhabitant in France', does that mean that I must pay another 8% in social charges to get access to CMUb? If so, what does my 7.1% that I already pay go towards? If anyone has any links to relevant info re this I'd be most grateful
  16. Hi andyh4, not sure that is correct. Certainly I have withdrawn cash in both Spain and Italy using CB's from 2 different French banks and have never suffered any charges whatsoever for the privilege. Would suggest the OP checks the T&C's of her account to be sure.
  17. Yes, we watch that too, an excellent series. I believe that the dam scenes are shot at Tignes, but a lot of the rest is around Lake Annecy. All beautiful scenery. I'll give the powers that be a few more days and contact them again at the end of next week if there's been no progress.
  18. I know I shouldn't, but I'm getting a bit irritated by the lack of communication from our impots after I sent all the necessary stuff to them on Sept 21st. I emailed them after a couple of weeks to ask re progress, and they quickly told me that as with all 'réclamations contentieuses', the paperwork had been forwarded to a specific district department in Annecy. Almost 2 months later, nothing, the réclamation hasn't even appeared on my espace client on the impots.gouv.fr website. Should I be concerned? Should I fire off anther email? I did see somewhere that the authorities have up to 6 months to respond to a claim, but if they don't reply during that time nor ask for an extension of 3 months more, you are to presume that your claim has been rejected!! There is no obligation to inform you of that decision, nor, presumably, justify it. Only in France!
  19. Interesting Norman, it is definitely on my 2014 td'h bill for our last place, I presumed it was the norm.
  20. Update - I spotted that the missing Td'H bill had appeared on impots.gouv.fr. Problem is they seem to think it is a maison secondaire, they haven't transferred our fiscal situation over (including the fact that we have a dependant child), the RFR is missing and they say we've declared that we don't have a TV. Cue email to sip sallanches to fill them in on the missing info. Hopefully a revised (and therefore more manageable) bill will be forthcoming!
  21. Yes, Patf, we have already gone through that particular pain. The new 'taxe d'aménagement' (which fairly recently replaced all the other various building / planning taxes) came to over 10,000 euros in our case, I nearly fell off my chair! Then, just when we thought it was over, the commune hit us with another 2,300 euros one-off charge for connecting to the sewage network, ouch again! If nothing materialises in the next couple of weeks I'll email the local hotel des impots as Norman did.
  22. Hi idun, no, it isn't on my online account, which I check every couple of days. It may be that the bills are late being prepared, but the friends locally that I've asked have all had theirs and are due to pay this month. It is however the first year we've paid Td'H on the house, whereas it is the second for TF, since we paid that when the house was being built. I remember that last years TF bill wasn't tied to our online account, and the guy at the tresorie said this was normal for the first year. It may be therefore that the Td'H bill won't be visible online this year, and it also by the same token might be delayed compared to others around.
  23. Hi Eurotrash, thanks for the link, sadly we don't fulfill any of those criteria for exoneration from td'h. It is also sadly a myth that you are exempt from TF for 2 years on a new build. It is only the departmental element of the TF, in our case representing approx one third, which is deducted, but better than nothing of course!
  24. Hi, we moved into our newly built house in March 2014, and after completing the necessary H1 form and having a visit from the people at the prefecture, we duly received our taxe foncière bill for 2015 in September. We are now early November however and no taxe d'habitation bill has arrived. As this is our one and only residence, I had expected to be paying the 2015 bill in mid-November, so I am a bit puzzled. Question is, is this usual in the first year of liability, or has someone forgotten about us. My wife does run her small ebay business from home, all of which has been declared, but I can't imagine the small CFE she will have to pay for doing that would be instead of the vastly larger taxe d'hab, especially as she only uses one room which also doubles as a bedroom. Second thing, if an omission has indeed been made, am I correct in thinking that I need to speak directly to the local tax office rather than the town tresorie? I certainly don't want to be accused of trying to avoid paying what is due, but without a bill I can't do much. Thanks for any advice.
  25. Thanks Parsnips, useful advice as always. We paid quite a lot in social charges on bank interest during 2012 & 2013 as we had sold up and had quite a lot on deposit in the UK while waiting to buy land in France, build a house, etc. Even if I can only try to reclaim all the SC's paid on my own accounts and half those paid on the joint accounts with Mrs DD during those periods, it would still be very worthwhile.
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