Vanman

If I have understood the new treaty properly ...... (if you want to try it out yourself, it's here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/france.pdf )                      ...... then it can't come into force (for capital gains tax purposes) in the UK before 2010/11 (ie not before 6 April 2010), and in France before 1 January 2010. And it will only come into force as early as that if it is ratified this year (ie before 31 December 2009). And although that might happen, I wouldn't hold my breath.

It's very unlikely that the 2004 double tax agreement between the UK and France will ever come into effect, as there is a new (2008) treaty that is clearly intended to replace it. The 2004 one took years to negotiate, and by the time it was in its final form it was out of date......

I'm hoping to be able to tile an outside terrace with terracotta tiles. We've already used similar tiles inside and found that the tiles were extremely porous: we used a large quantity of an oil sealant (sold to us with the tiles) but even then we weren't really happy with the result. I hadn't ever used unglazed terracotta tiles before so maybe they are always like this - please make plenty of allowance for my ignorance. First - are terracotta tiles suitable for use outside? Second - do they need to be sealed? Third - if they do need to be sealed, should that be done before, or after, grouting them? Finally - can anyone recommend a good sealant from personal experience? Thanks in advance!

Thanks,  dragonrouge, for pointing out that HMRC staff at Nottingham they are working all hours to catch up with a huge backlog of post. It's very easy to imagine that individual HMRC people aren't doing their job, but a large part of the blame must be down to the government for making large cuts in HMRC staff and then expecting those still there to deal with the same amount of work (or maybe more). What actually happens is that - with a very few honourable exceptions - the tax staff who are good at their work suddenly discover they can earn twice as much working for an accountancy firm. And many then go and do so. But don't get me started on the HMRC "call centres". I am grateful to dragonrouge, as she/he stopped me from replying to the latest stupid letter I've had from HMRC. My tax return last year said I wasn't resident in the UK (but of course they can't give me an NT code until the French authorities put their stamp on the form - even though HMRC did refund all the 2007/8 taxes I'd paid since I'd left the UK). So now I've just received a 2009/10 coding notice that says "we expect you to pay tax at 40%" - why do they "expect" that? The notice says it's from "CAR Residency .... NR Individuals" - shouldn't they "expect" something slightly different from N(on) R(esident) Individuals? And then they say that they will give me tax relief for my gift aid payments, adding that "the charity may ask you to give a declaration that you are a UK taxpayer". Well surprise surprise - I'm not supposed to be a UK taxpayer, and when I left the UK I stopped the gift aid payments (and I told HMRC. too). If I'd put this rant in a reply to HMRC, the post backlog would just be bigger, and it's obviously a letter written by a computer anyway. An illiterate computer, at that. Whew, that's better......

Thanks for the clarification, teapot. What I wanted to know when I first asked (and what I do know now) is whether there was any major problem in shifting the local technique that distance - the kind of problem that would make it impossible. That's because I need to get planning consent *first* for the abri with the solar panels - and then pour a slab of concrete for the foundations. That's about as far as my DIY skills are going to go - I will be getting in a professional to do the replumbing. I'll probably hire a digger and dig the trenches myself: there's a second trench to go from the panels to the house. The controls for the solar heating will be more complex than I can manage myself. I didn't want to waste to much time on a project that might have proved to be impossible. I'm most grateful for the responses. Still don't know really what to do about a new/different filter medium though! The pool is a salt/chlorine generator one (and, as I've said, so far it has worked very well). But the works won't start until later in the year, so I've some time to make up my mind.

And if I remember rightly, you will be entitled to interest on any tax wrongly deducted (you lucky person) ............ ............................................................................................................ but only calculated from 30 January 2010 if they haven't repaid it by then.

Thanks Andrew that's helpful. To summarise: there'll be more heat loss (unless someone invents a miracle insulation that cuts out all heat loss) and the extra friction from the longer pipes will probably mean I need a bigger pump. As I said, the last few years the system has worked perfectly, nice clean water all the time even when the pool briefly got to 30 degrees with just sunshine, and I don't want to spoil that. We probably would wish to change the sand (for new sand) when we move the machinery. I see you suggest Zeolite. I'd wondered about crushed glass as being a slightly more ecological alternative than Zeolite with a similar filtration ability (2 - 3 microns). I'd like to think all the bottles I send to the bottle bank find a good home. But are there drawbacks to glass? Thanks again

savings?

Clair thanks for this post - it's very helpful. Could you just clarify two points. Are these the tax new credits for work invoiced in 2009 (ie they affect the tax return for 2009 income which we'll submit in 2010), or are the ones on the return to be made in 2009? The rolling five-year ceiling. Does this mean that if you had already hit the ceiling with a one-off spend in 2005, you can claim again in 2010? i.e the slate is wiped clean after five years?

Golly - the Leroy Merlin bac a graisse is 500 litres. That's the same size as our old concrete fosse septique!

We had a (50 sq meter) pool installed a couple of years ago by a local firm, and it has been extremely good - no problems at all. But it isn't heated - and the local technique is one of those buried ones. It's difficult to get at the pump and multiway valve (the lid doesn't open very far, and you have to stretch to get at the controls), and we don't like the way the box sits in the middle of the grass. We've thought about putting up a structure like a garden shed at the bottom of the garden, with solar panels on the top, and with the pool machinery inside and a new heat-exchanger to heat the pool a little in late spring and early autumn. In summer the solar panels should heat our domestic water. The new site would also be about a meter lower down than the present one. Here's the question. At present the machinery is about 5 meters from the pool. If we do this, it will be 15 meters further off - twenty meters from the pool. Is that too far? I do understand that we might need a more powerful pump. But is there some other reason why the whole idea might not be practical? I'd really appreciate comments.

Here in the Cantal I'm beginning to appreciate the benefits of a lauze roof when it's blowing a gale. It leaks like anything (half a dozen buckets gradually filling in the attic) but as it weighs a ton (tonne?) at least it is a bit more resistant to blowing off. Touch wood, so far it's all still there.

Alas, that top-up health insurance is complementary, rather than complimentary ! (a pedant writes)

hang on there, Tandem-Pilot: a few minutes with the T-Cut and it could look like this one of mine: [IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/Vanman15/HYVanBarn.jpg[/IMG]

Anton - thanks very much for your helpful advice. I've now looked at the forms and printed them out. The application form (the declaration prealable) looked OK - well, not impossible. But I was a bit stunned by the number of attachments listed in the "Bordereau de depot des pieces...". Is there anyone who has gone through this process for a medium-sized garden shed who can list what is actually required by way of attachments to the declaration prealable (unless it really is all 10 items listed on the first page of the bordereau)? I'd be very grateful for some words of experience!