Daft Doctor

I've read all this stuff with interest as I am sure I may have right to a refund also, but just wanted to clarify a couple of points before I plunge headlong into a letter using Parsnip's very useful template. Firstly, is it only UK investment income and savings which are exempt from SC's for S1 holders, or is it all income, including French savings interest for example? Secondly, I had an early-retiree's S1 from arriving in France in May 2012 until January 2014, but my wife was an autoentrepreneur throughout and was therefore 'à la charge' of the French system, paying her quarterly cotisations. My health care was therefore through CPAM, hers was through RSI. How would this affect the right for me to reclaim? Would I still be able to reclaim all social charges on accounts held in my sole name and 50% of social charges levied on joint accounts? Any advice on these questions (thinking of Parsnips particularly, but others may know) would be gratefully received.

Let's face it, the OP's 'friends' have either been numpties or naughty. Fact is, if they've lived permanently in France for 4 years, then they have likely been French tax residents for that entire period. They don't have a choice in that matter, it is what it is, and if they have any form of income it should have been declared in France as part of worldwide income, even if (as in the case of UK property income for instance) it would not be taxable in France. As well as being a legal requirement to declare worldwide income as French tax residents, there are some advantages in doing so. For a start it would establish a revenu fiscal de reference, which if low might be useful in some circumstances, e.g. being exempt from paying for TV licence. In addition, making tax declarations in France and keeping each annual avis d'imposition helps to prove length of French residency if ever questioned. If the OP's friends have any sense they'll do just as others have suggested, toddle down to the local tax office with their tails between their legs, pleading ignorant but wanting to put it right.......

Just an update - the paysagiste came round on 16th July and agreed that the grass wasn't looking too good. He cut the existing grass down to 50cm, then despite me asking if he prefered to come back when the weather was cooler and not so dry, he proceeded to rake certain areas then scatter some grass seed and fertiliser on the barest parts. More than 2 weeks down the line, despite a fair bit of rain and watering as much as allowed by our current restrictions, none of the new seed has germinated. Some areas have thickened up a bit, helped by more regular mowing, but without improving the stony nature of the soil at the surface I doubt whether we'll see a lot of progress in the worst areas. The paysagiste did say to call him if we weren't happy, and he would reseed as needed, so we'll give it til late August and get him back in. Mr Bric sells (expensively) 'patch bags' with seed, topsoil and fertiliser mixed together, which would perhaps be a better idea for the autumn. Ultimately, annual top dressing will improve the soil situation over time, and at least the grass that has germinated looks in the main to be a healthy colour and is growing strongly. Thanks again for your pearls of wisdom, much appreciated as always!

The notaire is wrong on two fronts. Firstly, as Nectarine has pointed out, it is foreigners living in the UK who will not benefit from this new law, not expats living in France. Secondly, it isn't true that the UK has not ratified the new law, as I understand it the UK has been excused from adopting the law by the EU because of the complexity of UK inheritance laws. There is no reason, other than not being clear about which wording to adopt, why notaires should refuse to implement the new law from August 17th.

Hi, over the last week or so we have suddenly lost most of the ITV HD channels. ITV1HD, ITV2HD, and ITV4HD are completely dead, as was ITV3HD (though I did manage to get a patchy signal this morning). All other channels are absolutely fine, including BBC1HD, BBC2HD, Channels 4 & 5 HD, and all the subscription channels. When tuned to any of the dead ITV HD channels, the screen displays 'no satellite signal is being received', and if I then check the signal strength on my Sky+HD box, one of the inputs is at 80% strength and quality and the other is at 0% of each, i.e. nothing at all. When tuned to say BBC1HD however, both inputs show approx 70-80% for strength and 60-80% for quality. It has been extremely hot here in the Alps, and I wondered if that might be a factor, but we haven't had any bad weather, i.e. heavy rain or thunder to speak of. I wondered if anyone else has been having similar problems with ITV HD, and / or if anyone knew if something has changed regarding the satellite or beam providing the signals for these particular channels? It seems too much of a coincidence that it only seems to be the ITV HD 'family' which is affected. Thanks in advance.

The fact that Greece is going to be given another 3 year bailout which the IMF believes won't be nearly enough to save the situation means that the chances of Eurozone economic growth is significantly reduced, so therefore are the risks for inflation and therefore the need will be for low interest rates in perpetuity. That makes the euro an undesirable investment relative to the pound, hence the rate pushing up. I think the Greeks staying in the Eurozone is like having a player in your football team who you aren't allowed to leave out, but keeps scoring own goals, i.e. in the long term the Eurozone and the euro would be stronger without them. I don't personally expect a rapid fall back in the £/euro exchange rate, but then again who knows.........

Hi Andy, agree with much of what you say. As far as what we expect, the purpose of putting the grass down certainly wasn't to have a putting green style fine grass ornamental affair. We have a large plot, so the idea was to provide some green utility areas which required relatively less maintenance than flower beds, etc, but still looked reasonable to the eye. I agree that in our case some meadow turf would probably have been ideal, but as you say, it doesn't seem to exist round here and if prep and seeding cost us 90 euros TTC per sqm, I dread to think what turf would have cost us! We do see not unreasonable lawns round and about us, so something practical can't be impossible. As for the timing of the planting, we had the paysagiste look at the job last September, but he deferred to this year as he had too much on and said October would be too late (as it happened it was very mild right up until Xmas, so it would have been fine). As is often the case with French tradesmen, I had to remind him to come and get the job done after the snow had gone, and despite all the prior notice he had, it was early June before he came and seeded. He is however coming today to have a look and says he will do 'le nécessaire', but that is now likely to be late August/early September.

Thanks to you both. The weather has been ridiculously hot here (36 degrees in the Alps for goodness sake!), but we've been very careful to avoid the surface going dry despite that. I think the quality of the soil may be a part of the problem, but then again, as you say Gardengirl, the paysagiste should know that and only sow on something he's happy with. I've texted him today, but as it is Bastille day it isn't very likely I'll get a reply until tomorrow at the earliest. As I see it, if nothing is done there isn't a hope of the bare patches being inhabited by anything but weeds, but if my memory serves me right you can't use a weed and feed product on young grass. Our local Mr Bricolage has re-seeding bags containing seed, fertiliser and topsoil, but at 25 euros for a bag covering 16m2 it ain't cheap. Hopefully the paysagiste will agree to do the necessary without too much of a fight, even if it means we have to wait a bit until the temperature cools a bit and we have to continue to keep our dog off the garden for the foreseeable!

Hi, we paid a local (and highly recommended) paysagiste handsomely to prepare and seed 400m2 of our new garden to create some lawned areas. 5 weeks have now passed, during which we religiously kept the surface gently moist initially, and once germination started, have (despite the high temperatures in France) kept all areas well watered. Despite this, at this stage the results are really disappointing, with very patchy and uneven growth, many bare patches, and areas where weeds are doing better than any grass. The paysagiste's preparation consisted of putting down extra (non-sieved) topsoil where he thought it necessary, rotavating the entire surface, then raking to get rid of some of the larger stones (there are still many smaller stones on the surface). He then seeded by hand, raked everything level, scattered some fertiliser on the top then rolled it. It was all done in a day by 3 men, all by hand. I have contacted the paysagiste and emailed photos of the current state of play, but I am still waiting for him to get back to me. We will be doing a first cut on what is there later this week (waiting for arrival of Lithium powered mower), but the question is, should I be expecting any more at this stage, or am I being unduly pessimistic? Is there anything short of reseeding all the bare patches (probably 40% in total of the entire surface) that we (or rather, the paysagiste) can do. Was the preparation adequate (living in the Alps we have very stony soil)? Any thoughts, opinions or advice greatly appreciated.

Hi, we had this same problem a couple of years ago when we were initially charged CSG/CDRS on UK property income, which like your wife's teacher's pension is wholly taxed in the UK. The problem was rectified after our accountant intervened, and we haven't been charged it since. The dual tax treaty means that although such income is always declared in France, a credit must be given equivalent to the French taxes charged on the income. The key thing is that for the purposes of the treaty, 'french taxes' includes both tax and social charges, so CSG/CDRS should not be levied in the first place. That's the theory anyway..........

We had to look into this issue recently as we were tenants having landlord intrusion (and stolen booze) problems. The law on this point is very clear. In France, if you rent a property to someone it is as if you have sold them the property for the duration of the lease. You have absolutely no guaranteed right of access in any circumstances, and strictly speaking you should not even hold a spare key without the tenants' express written consent. Tread very carefully, the law in France 100% favours the tenant, and the penalties for transgression are considerable. Another point which not many understand is that unless otherwise stated in your lease agreement, the lease is subject to tacit renewal every 3 years (or every year for a furnished property). What this means is that if you do not give written notice to the tenant at least 6 months before the scheduled end of the lease (3 months for furnished property) that you will not be renewing, the lease is automatically renewed for a further 3 years (or 1 year furnished) on the scheduled end date. In the most extreme case therefore, if you are one day late in issuing the correct notice, you could have to wait 3 more years for another opportunity. If your tenants have been in 2 and a half years and you are having problems with them, you need to be sure not to be powerless to end the arrangement legally at the end of their current lease period!

Hi Leroy Merlin sell it in 20kg bags, it's called Beton Express in their case. I used it to put in 30 fence posts, and a 20kg bag easily did a 25cm x 25cm x 30cm hole with post in situ. I know some of the other brico places sell a similar product in 25kg bags, if you're asking if they have some I think the general phrase is 'beton prise rapide'.

I use Amaguiz,com, 100% online but no problems so far with customer service. They are certainly reasonably priced, but of course any insurance for a young, new driver will cost a fair bit.

When we had our new house built, I was able to get a devis for the new electrical connection direct from ERDF by applying online at https://connect-racco.erdfdistribution.fr/prac-internet/login/ Admittedly there wasn't much groundwork to be done, but the cost of getting supply to our boundary was only 860 euros, and connecting from the boundary to inside the house was another 370. I'm sure this type of work is part subsidised by the government. Maybe you should get a devis done then take it from there with your buyer?

We've just sold our apartment, and certainly in our area the market has definitely picked up, the £/euro exchange rate has probably lured a few Brits to consider second homes again. We marketed with a few local agents who were worse than useless, but used two internet-based agencies, who were much more successful (lots of visits and feedback afterwards). As for prepping a property for sale, others have made all the sensible points. You can't change the size or location of the property, but you can de-clutter, you can freshen it up and you must know about any existing problems and put them right. I'd recommend getting all the diagnostics done, not forgetting a certificate of the surface habitable. Finally, patience is needed, it might take 3 weeks or 3 years for a buyer to come alone, all you can do it make sure that the property is appealing as it could possibly be to the widest range of potential buyers, then make sure there aren't any nasty unknowns that could scupper a deal once the magic buyer materialises! Good luck

Hi, I wasn't aware that any building was necessary to obtain a CU. We bought a plot of land on which someone lived in two wooden shacks which were to be demolished. They obtained a CU on the land, on which we subsequently obtained a permis de construire and build a house. I thought a CU was for that purpose, i.e. a pre-planning consent of sorts?

Problem solved. Couldn't find out why according to the Net-entreprise site a declaration for Mrs DD wasn't due, but there was a manual override algorithm I could use which did the trick.

Hi, Mrs DD has been an AE for 3 years and normally declares her first quarter's chiffres d'affaires online from beginning of April. I've just logged on to Net-entreprise.fr to make the declaration for her, but it says there isn't one due?!. Can anyone shed any light on this, is there a problem with the website or have I missed something? I've checked the new measures for 2015 on the website but the declaration dates don't seem to have changed. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Hi, I have a friend who recently became an auto-entrepreneur teaching English in a couple of schools and in the home. She asked my advice as she has received a fair bit of correspondence recently, including from the organisations mentioned above in the thread title, and doesn't know what is important and what is spam. Although Mrs DD is an AE, she is a commerçant rather than an professional libérale, so I am not familiar with the bodies responsible for collecting cotisations, administering healthcare, etc in such cases. I wonder if someone out there can let me know which organisations matter for professionals libérales under the AE scheme and which can safely be ignored. Any help much appreciated as always.

Hi, I've just bought and installed a Netgear 3000RP-200FRS range extender, bought very reasonably from Amazon.fr, and it has made such a difference. Even though our Orange Livebox is only a few metres away from our office, the wifi signal was really poor, no doubt due to the concrete floor between ground and first floors. A while ago I bought some Netgear CPL adaptors and hard-wired the office PC to one, but the signal was very variable, often dropping out completely for a few minutes each time. As soon as I booted up the new wifi extender, bingo, strong signal, no dropping out and decent download speeds. A great purchase if it keeps working!

Whenever I have rung up the provider and asked the 'how much' question, they have been very consistent in quoting the Transfer Value, adding of course that it varies day to day. This figure presumably by its nature includes all charges relating to moving the pot so should be a reliable indicator of the cash-in value. I was surprised at how much my policies were worth as compared to the annual statements I had been receiving, but the difference is down to terminal bonuses, which are not included in the annual valuation/pension projections. I should say on the reclaiming of UK tax issue, Mrs DD and I filled in forms France-Individual back in 2012, the purpose of which was to establish our French tax resident status and have this agreed with HMRC. If and when I cash my pot in I will check with HMRC if we need to go through the process again, as it involves providing all details re arrival and length of stay in France, etc, as well as needing to have the forms countersigned by the local French tax office. Quillan, if your pot is only worth £30k, can't you take it now as a 'trivial commutation', as the limit for this was raised to £30k last year?

Hi Quillan, I am in a similar position and looked into this a little while ago and again more recently. A couple of things to add to what you've already mentioned (assuming that one decides to come clean and declare the funds to Les Impots): Firstly, I believe that to qualify for the 7.5% single French income tax charge on the funds it must be a complete and not partial drawdown of the pot. I am not sure how it will be if you have more than one contract with the same provider (as I have), but only wish to cash in one of them. Secondly, I believe that social charges of in total 7.4% will also be levied on the whole pot in France on the funds declared, with the 4.2% CSG element (56.7% of the social charges paid) allowed against taxable income in the following tax year. Finally, I thought that in the UK after deduction of the 25% tax free element, the rest is taxed at 20% (i.e. basic rate) and not 25% as you mentioned. Regarding the reclaiming of the UK tax paid on the pot, if HMRC already knows that you are a non-resident for UK tax purposes, e.g. if you already have an NT tax code on another pension for instance, I understand that a letter to HMRC requesting the refund, with all the necessary details, should also suffice. I think the biggest problem is whether the pension providers in the UK will be geared up for it in time for 6th April. Last time I rang mine only a few weeks ago, they quite clearly hadn't given their staff any training on the new legislation, as I was told initially that I would have to wait until I was 60 to get the cash and would then only be permitted to buy an annuity with it!

Hi Chancer, we used the Eclipse flat emulsion on walls and ceilings in our kitchen, and one year on it hasn't suffered at all. Admittedly, we have tiling to 50cm above the work surfaces, lots of wall cupboards and the kitchen is open plan so very well ventilated. For the bathrooms we used Macphersons Acrylic Eggshell, which again was fantastic and relatively cheap.

Last year I emulsion painted the whole of the interior of our new house. I used Macphersons Eclipse Emulsion, a trade paint bought in the UK online and delivered to Rhone-Alpes by La Maison Shopping, a specialist delivery service who will for a quote deliver anything to certain areas of France if it can first be delivered to their warehouse in Kent (including Tesco shopping, etc, etc). Anyway, the paint cost me approx. £30 per 15 litre tub and delivery worked out at a further £10 per tub. It has fantastic coverage and is very 'flat' so very good at hiding imperfections, uneven surfaces, etc. I remember telling the French builder what it had cost including delivery and he simply couldn't believe it. Round this way, Dulux Valentine costs nearly 100 euros for a 10 litre tub, and there wasn't anything else which was anywhere near the quality for the price. If you either have access by car to the UK or if you live in an area of France served by one of these specialist delivery services, you might want to consider buying your paint in the UK and having it shipped over. If you've a lot to do it could save you a small fortune.

Mac, sorry to disagree with you, but UK property income is never subject to French social charges. It is declarable in France as mentioned, but only taxable in the UK. For the purposes of the dual tax treaty with France relief is given against both French tax and social charges, since for the purposes of the treaty in this particular instance social charges are considered a form of taxation. In our first year in France the tax authorities levied social charges against our UK property income, but a quick email from our accountant, quoting the relevant section of the dual tax treaty led to a speedy recalculation and removal of the said charges. We have not been levied social charges again, even though we are not benefitting from an S1. The following article explains the situation more clearly: https://siddalls.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/renting-out-a-uk-property-as-a-french-resident/ It seems some French tax offices (such as ours in our first year) are incorrectly interpreting the rules, but as in our case have been successfully challenged.