paying tax on seasonal work?

[brian]

hi all,we have a holiday home in france that ive renovated over the years,on my last visit i took over my mini digger to landscape gardens and build patios.during these trips ive had many neighbours asking if i could do jobs for them,as work is very slack in the uk now i wondered if we had longer holidays in france but also under took jobs whilst keeping uk residance,what would be the legal situation.? i know my liability insurance covers me to work in france but where would you pay tax.? any help welcome,thanks

[powerdesal]

First may I say welcome to the forum.

Regarding your idea of work in France......you would be working on ' The black' because you are not registered to work in France, this is, as far as I know 'Highly Illegal' and is very very fraught with ( potential) problems. The authorities do not like it at all and if you are caught doing it they will jump on you from a very great height.

Only my opinion of course.

edit, they will also jump on anyone employing you - as far as I know.

[Val_2]

Unless you register and obtain an official SIRET reg number which then throws you into the social charge system, you will be working illegally. If YOU have an accident and need medical treatment, the person paying you will cop the lot and even prison if it is a serious accident. If you want to do work for friends then its your perogative and you should keep quiet about such things but normal french people will not have anyone working on their properties who can be seen by neighbours or passers by unless they are total legal. You are in effect, taking away revenue from legally registered local artisans who will report you without any qualms.

[brian]

so would i have to start another company in france along side a uk one for a few days/weeks work in france?you say social charge is this only paid for the days worked?is there any links already with regards temporary work,,ta

[Will]

There may be a way round this. If you are self-employed in Britain, you can send yourself on 'assignment' to do some work overseas. That means you carry on declaring and paying tax to UK, and, more importantly, you pay NI to UK but have an official form that allows you to use the French health system legally as a 'migrant worker'. That means you pay for doctor visits, medication etc, but you get the standard French percentage refunded.

I'm not sure which of the current forms you need, it's one of the incarnations of the S1 or A1 (when I was doing something similar it was E101/E128). You need to be doing the same sort of work in France as you do in UK, without a significant break, and you should retain your UK address (this is not essential, but it does provide evidence of the temporary nature of the arrangement). It only works for a limited time - you would probably get a couple of years worth before the French and British authorities decide that you live in France and need to register and pay your dues there.

I can't guarantee this will work for you; it depends on individual circumstances and the sort of work you do, but it's worth looking into.

One possible fly in the ointment is insurance - even though your UK insurer may say you are covered, this is not likely to be acceptable as 'assurance décennale' which you must have in France for most types of building work.

[brian]

thanks will,ive been looking on this forum at other post like mine and from most replies given it looks to complicated and involved to even think about just for a possible few weeks work .what ever happened to the good old working holidays? the uk is flooded with migrant workers from the eu working both full and part time(and claiming dole) i just wanted to get away a few weeks and work in the sun ,dont mind paying tax if thats the case but dont need the health /social charges, as you say i thought with the e101 forms gave temp cover whilst abroad.

[NormanH]

You say " ive had many neighbours asking if i could do jobs for them".

They will certainly be expecting you to work on the black i.e. illegally, and also expect low prices.

Don't imagine they like your face [:)]

As others have explained it is not a good idea to do this, but round here I don't know any honest Brits declaring anything.

Most if not all are  cowboys who work cash in hand for other Brits.

Apologies to those in other regions who so work correctly (as Val's husband did) but I tell it as I see it.

[Russethouse]

[quote user="brian"]thanks will,ive been looking on this forum at other post like mine and from most replies given it looks to complicated and involved to even think about just for a possible few weeks work .what ever happened to the good old working holidays? the uk is flooded with migrant workers from the eu working both full and part time(and claiming dole) i just wanted to get away a few weeks and work in the sun ,dont mind paying tax if thats the case but dont need the health /social charges, as you say i thought with the e101 forms gave temp cover whilst abroad.[/quote]

The UK migrant workers are in a very different boat in so far as they are here for a decent period, years, not weeks and sometimes permanently.

[pitway]

Just as an aside, If the OP is a registered business in the UK, why can't he just give them a quote and at the end an invoice?

The reason I pose this is over the years the company I work for has had various works going on, all of which have been carried out by companies outside of France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, and some of the labourers were Polish and Bulgarian. Perhaps these companies have had other contracts witin France so all the hoops have been jumped through already!

EU free trade and all that, yes, I know this is France :-)