AE and Property letting

[oldgit72]

Does anyone know if there any restrictions on letting property and using this as a vehicle to register for AE status. For example, would it be possible to declare income from a UK property as AE income? I know that rental needs to be declared to HMRC but providing the income is less than UK personal allowance (x2 if in joint names) then no tax is payable there. Paying 13/23% into the AE system to maintain healthcare after e106 expiry is the reason for my question.

[cooperlola]

The thing that springs to mind immediately is the problem of 2 people doing this - AE is for sole traders.  Thus if the property in question is owned by two people.... 

Other people know more about AE than I do though so may think differently.

[Chancer]

I am only thinking out loud so dont take what I say as gospel.

Re the 2 people if they are married I think only one needs to register as AE to get healthcare for the both, perhaps someone can confirm.

You could register as AE and declare your UK income each quarter and no one would be the wiser as you are just (correctly in my eyes) declaring rental income no more details than that, of course it would come to light during a contrôle but given the phenomenal take up of AE I doubt that you would be at the top of their list to visit unless you were declaring a pittance at odds with your percieved lifestyle.

And if you were to be controlled what exactly have you done wrong? you have tried to do the right thing, the worts that could happen is to be told sorry but you must declare your reveue in some other way.

I had also been giving this idea some thought.

[Will]

If I remember rightly, there are certain restrictions on AE status for those involved in property. I think it only applies to short-term tourist letting.

The system was introduced for those already in the French system to be able to legally earn extra money from small businesses. Having said that, there is nothing in the rules to prevent people from using it to join the system as an alternative to paying full cotisations or taking out private health assurance. The reason for mentioning this is purely conjectural - although it is possible at present if such AE registrations become widespread then the rules are likely to be changed. So even if it is possible, you should look on it only as a short term solution.

Having experienced a controle by les impots, that's not something to be taken lightly. Once they have an inkling that you might be doing something not quite in accordance with the rules, they will just make extra demands and it's a real protracted struggle to prove your innocence and get the demands wiped out - even if, as in our case, you have been 100% honest in your declarations.