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Our maire has been amazingly helpful to me I have to say. About 7 years ago I got robbed in Italy and arrived back home with no passport, no bank cards, no money in my pocket, no phone, no laptop, nothing, cos it was all in my luggage and rucksack that got stolen (don't ask, I was waiting for my coach in Turin and I took my eye off it for a split second and when I looked back it was gone). He lent me 1000€ to buy a new phone and laptop so I could carry on working and to tide me over until I could get at my bank account again, and ever since then he's kind of taken me under his wing and given me advice when I've needed it. Since I've been out of France he's even kept in touch by phone and text every now and again to check I'm OK. So I'm eternally grateful to him and I do think he is actually a good maire in that he's firm and decisive and has a good business head. But I know there are some who've got on the wrong side of him and are very bitter because rightly or wrongly they feel he's victimised them unfairly, eg pushed them out of their job etc.
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[quote user="NickP"]Lots of conjecture going on here, We've had our house in France for 16 years so are well aware of French bureaucracy. As for living in France, until we get our application for residency sorted which can't be done until after October, no way am I going to inform the UK that I am a French resident, why would I, until I am officially? So also " one of those who show themselves as living in France but do not" What's that all about? ??[/quote]

To answer your last question, you show your location as Loir et Cher, but in your posts you refer to Weybridge as home, you drive a UK registered car, and you haven't advised the UK tax authorities that you live in France.

As Euro Tr@sh pointed out, you don't seem to have grasped that as an EU citizen you become officially resident simply by moving to France with the intention of staying there. At least until the end of this year. This is automatic and does not require you to have a piece of paper nor apply for anything.

I do hope that dealing with minor events related to your house has given you the insight into French bureaucracy that  you credit yourself with.

The fact that you have not informed the UK of your intentions to live here will not help in your last-minute efforts to get a residence permit, as you seem to have accumulated very little proof so far.

As for being advised by an accountant, I hope you do some reading of the French rules to verify what you are told. As far as I know, accountants are not required to be experts in tax law in order to qualify. I was very badly advised some years ago by a well-known accountant, and would take any advice now with a large pinch of salt. Not that I have used an accountant since then, except a personal friend who helped me understand bookkeeping for our business.

I suppose after 16 years visiting here you can read French adequately, but if not, one of the better sources of tax information in English is HERE

EDIT:
Incidentally, the accountant was with a company supposedly specialising in taxation, and gave me totally wrong information on UK residence and tax laws.
He also sold me an investment instrument which was only available to UK residents.
My regular payments were made by my UK bank, so the company didn't realise we were not resident until I happened to write to them.
They stopped me making any further payments, but by law were unable to return my money.
The total investment had not reached the ceiling to earn the normal return, so yielded only a couple of % points for almost 40 years before I could redeem it.

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I think you're right Nomoss ;-)

Re accountants, I used to teach English to accountants and from what I gathered they are basically highly trained number crunchers. French accounting and auditing seems to be very complex with various different systems and a lot of rules and regulations that accountants have to to learn and understand and know how to apply. So if a company, or I suppose an individual, gives them all the data and other info they need, they will produce an immaculate set of accounts. But they don't seem to see it as their job to be proactive and offer advice or think outside the box or ask searching questions to make sure the client hasn't left out something that should have been included. They're not really interested in the client and his individual circumstances, what interests them is accounting rules. I wouldn't use one either unless I had to. You need to understand the rules for yourself in order to know whether or not he's doing your returns right or no, and by the time you've got your head round it all, you might as well fill the forms in yourself. The infomation is all online and the notes provided with the tax forms are pretty comprehensive, and failing all else, the staff at the tax office are helpful and they charge nowt.
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Re cars, well legally we have 6 months to reregister in France.

When we moved back to England, I could be bothered with reregistering, so we drove it back to France and sold it. For us, easier and far less hassle to buy one in England.

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[quote user="NickP"]Lots of conjecture going on here, We've had our house in France for 16 years so are well aware of French bureaucracy. As for living in France, until we get our application for residency sorted which can't be done until after October, no way am I going to inform the UK that I am a French resident, why would I, until I am officially? So also " one of those who show themselves as living in France but do not" What's that all about? ??[/quote]

With all the unknowns of Brexit I would have told everyone that I was resident in France from the first possible moment. I certainly wouldn’t have waited until I applied for a CdS.
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Not six months these days idun, one month. This may have changed recently.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F10519

Un étranger qui s'installe en France doit-il y faire immatriculer son véhicule ?

Oui, la démarche est obligatoire si vous vous installez en France et que vous y déclarez votre résidence principale. Elle doit être faite dans un délai d'un mois après votre installation.

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[quote user="idun"]
Re cars, well legally we have 6 months to reregister in France. ................................

[/quote]

But why wait, when insurance is cheaper in France and covers the car in most other countries?

I've never understood people who put off doing things until the last moment, then later complain when they have problems.

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As a French resident you have one month to register your car. If you return to England to become resident in theory you are not allowed to drive your French registered car out of the docks without getting it U.K. registered. You become resident the moment you arrive in Britain and British residents are not allowed to drive foreign registered vehicles unless they fit one of the exceptions. Moving to England is not an exception.
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Thanks for that, I should have looked it up, but 6 months always sounded reasonable to me. A month is quick. But it is even quicker in the UK.

There is a grey area ofcourse isn't there.

I didn't find that car insurance was cheaper in France, although a while now since I lived there.

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Thank you very much, I'm not looking for an argument at all, just joining in a discussion which I thought I might be able to add some information but to get jumped upon by a certain element who seem to think that they are more French than the locals is quite funny. We all do what we want to do so that it suits us and our family, so get off your high horses Eurotrash and nomoss, don't judge others by your failings or mistakes. as I said there's a lot of conjecture going on. I'm quite happy with what I'm planning and very comfortable with my aims.
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NickP wrote the following post at 12 Jul 2020 21:23:

I'm quite happy with what I'm planning and very comfortable with my aims.

Good for you ..

You have been given good advice .

If you choose not to take it .. then that's your choice.

Legally as you are now resident in France you have a short time to register your car here.

You will need to make a declaration of tax to be able to move forward in your new French life.

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Gee thanks NickP for that interesting analysis. I wasn't even aware I thinght I was more French than the locals, it must be a wholly subconscious thought, but since the locals to where I'm living are Welsh (this being Wales) it's a difficult comparison to make. I don't mind admitting I have plenty of failings and have made tons of mistakes, but I can't think of any that are relevant to this thread.

An alternative conclusion could be, that I don't like seeing posts on forums that might mislead people when they're trying to make plans, and when I do see them I challenge them. Call it getting on a high horse if you like. But dismissing the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement and the French statutes as "conjecture", seems to me a bit misleading.
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It is refreshing to know that things can kick off without me getting involved. LOL.

If there is one persons advice I trust on all matters 'French' on all French forums is Eurotrash. I trust their advice more than my OH's.

They really know their stuff. They should do this for a living.

Even though they live in Wales. LOL.

I have never understood until this day, why people don't ditch their RHD cars in the UK and just buy a LHD if they want to live in France full time. Problem sorted FFS !

After my 2000 mile trip around France this past week and nearly being killed over 10 times, I want to be in a LHD.

The standard of driving in France since lockdown has plummeted. It is soo dangerous out there.

Keep safe.
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alittlebitfrench wrote the following post at 13 Jul 2020 10:59:

If there is one persons advice I trust on all matters 'French' on all French forums is Eurotrash. I trust their advice more than my OH's.

I totally agree ..

and also :

The standard of driving in France since lockdown has plummeted. It is soo dangerous out there.

Keep safe.

I don't drive long distances but locally, IMHO, the quality of driving has deteriorated since the lockdown.

And now the speed mad holidaymakers are here I shall use my bike a lot more.
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Thanks for the vote of confidence.

I have to say though that this car thing is a bit of a poser for me right now. You say it's easy ALBF but it isn't if you no hava da filthy lucre. I junked my French car when I came back, because it was about ready for junking in any case, and I bought a UK car. And now, being somewhat financially challenged what with losing my job an' all and trying to eke out my savings for another two years until I hit pension age, the last thing I want to do right now is spaff thousands of euro on another car. I would prefer not to even have the expense of converting and reregistering this one. I've set myself a monthly budget plus a separate budget for all the various taxes and stuff that will be due in the next 2 years, based on worst case scenario of struggling to get work which I am at present, and the budgets are tight. So the car thing is an extra thing I could do without. I might end up being naughty and taking my chances for a while, and yes I know I will deserve whatever comments you throw at me and I will take them on the chin :-)
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EuroTr@sh wrote the following post at 13 Jul 2020 12:25:

So the car thing is an extra thing I could do without. I might end up being naughty and taking my chances for a while, and yes I know I will deserve whatever comments you throw at me and I will take them on the chin :-)

If by being naughty you mean keeping your RHD car then I'm with you. In my view a lot depends on where you live .. we live in a ruralish area .. very busy in summer and any school holiday with holidaymakers .. in cars and on bikes everywhere. But there is literally only 1 main road in and out of our area and the authorities have put traffic calming measures there and everywhere .. overtaking a car/cars anywhere is mostly impossible.

So I am causing no problems to anyone by having my RHD.
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There was a loverly RHD old E Type (blue) Jag driving through Tours city centre the other week on French plates. Everyone stopped and stared. I think he was French. He looked French.

Was that you Nicky ?.

I forgave him....so I guess I will have to forgive you two. LOL.

I need my steering wheel on the left.
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