Esperaza Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Well said Miki.I just cannot understand why the scroungers come to France when they know exactly how to milk the UK system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Gyn Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 esperanza, miki I know it's always a danger assuming something (particularly on this forum), but would I be right in assuming that you both - like me - are resident here in France?If not, then please disregard the following : I'm clearly talking out of my hat. If you are, an observation....I suspect that those of us who live here full time have a slightly different - slightly more proprietorial - take on life in France, and, quite rightly in the opinion of many, take a dim view of those who appear to be trying to get something for nothing out of 'the system' (I for one can never quite shake off the feeling that if someone, somewhere, is wriggling out of paying something, then somehow I'm picking up the slack!). However it's dead easy to forget what it felt like to be someone who visited their holiday home for just a few weeks or months per year. After shelling out a fortune to the ferry companies to get here, paying the taxe de'h. & taxe f. and the insurance, and the electricity etc. etc. It's not unnatural, in my view, to think, "we have this TV which doesn't get French programmes; the DVD and the videos are really to keep the kids quiet; I pay a licence back at home to the BBC, so why the hell shouldn't I continue to watch uk-programmes even though I'm not on UK soil? What exactly would I be getting for my 116E50?" Surely it's like the distinction between tax avoidance, and tax evasion: sail as close to the wind as you can without crossing the line (sorry: mixed metaphor, I know, but you get the idea).Yes, I agree with you. If you have a TV: pay the damn thing and be done with it. But I think it ill behoves us to be too censorious of those who seek to (legally) find a way round it.paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esperaza Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Paul,I spend 5 months in France and 7 months in the UK each year and pay my dues,fully, in each country and do not expect to take anything from either country to which I am not entitled.If I could not afford to do so, I would not own a property (or television) in France.I would not wish the French taxpayer to support my lifestyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie Posted November 19, 2004 Author Share Posted November 19, 2004 As it was me who asked the original question, it should probably me who points out that if you take the time to read my original message, you will see that I HAD already tried to find out if I needed a licence, and had been given incorrect information by my FRENCH builder. Having read an article in a French magazine in October about licences and the proposal to make it part of the taxe d'habitation (which I do pay!) I was then unclear as to who to contact to find out what to pay, when and who to, hence the question on the forum. At no point have I deliberately tried to evade paying my dues, nor do I intend to do so, but living in the UK it is not always possible to get the most up to date information about France without using things like this forum. The one thing I needed was information, which was quickly supplied by Paul (Thank you). What I certainly did not need or expect was a load of pompous hot air from people who should take the time to read messages more carefully! Lack of information is not the same as criminal intent!!!Can this please be an end to the subject.Marie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 But we are still not really any the wiser as to how it will work for Maison Secondaire where there is no Maison Principale with a tax return Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 I do not think that France, UK or any other EU country requires permanent residents or part-time residents to pay the maximum they can possibly wring out of us for licences and taxes, just the appropriate amount for our individual situations according to the regulations. And finding out that kind of information is surely what this forum is about. I do not think it is necessary to assume that someone has criminal intent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 I know it's always a danger assuming something (particularly on this forum), but would I be right in assuming that you both - like me - are resident here in France?No I am not resident, I am like so many others. I pop over occasionally, booze cruise and the like but I know everything I need to know. I read lots of books, I watch every single programme about France on the TV and I subscribe to all, or nearly all French glossy magazines in the shops.I read these forums from top to bottom and back again. I know some of it might be hearsay but surely that's as good as anything, I mean what good is experience, when there are books and mags and TV shows to tell us all we need to know ? Surely no one with any real experience posts on here ? Why would they want to help us newbies or regular visitors, when we really don't need to listen to them, do we ? Haven't we read and seen all there is to know, so do we need them sanctimonious twits, they only tell it nastily and pompously to show off.No, I reckon we should have our own part in the forum where only people who know, or even think they know everything can post and keep the so called know nothing experts away. Some people who have lived here a fair while, think they know it all but, many of us know that one doesn't need to live in France for long, just a few months or perhaps a year, is sufficient to know all one needs to know, especially if you read the books etc. So keep away you so called experienced ex pats, we won't miss you one bit, at the end of the day you just confuse things anyway. Bon nuit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Gyn Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 [quote]I know it's always a danger assuming something (particularly on this forum), but would I be right in assuming that you both - like me - are resident here in France? No I am not resident, I am like...[/quote]Dear Miki,I have read your posting from top to bottom and back again.All 314 words of it. And I can confidently claim to understand every one of them.I only wish I could say the same for the point(s) you are making. This is clearly a comprehension error on my part.Can I have some of what you're on please? paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 Paul,I am absolutely delighted that you understood all the words but like dear departed Eric once said in another matter, perhaps they were all in the wrong order ?For the secret of what I am on, try "dabbling" with menthe, pastis and un peu de Laurent Perrier rosé, dance dervishly with the said glass to Mr Halliday or Musique Celtic Breton and then, all becomes so crystal clear, or perhaps it is only me Joie de vivre indeed, I have bought yet another monthly mag and undoubtedly now feel yet further ahead of the pack, in knowledge of the Hexagone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Gyn Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 [quote]Paul, I am absolutely delighted that you understood all the words but like dear departed Eric once said in another matter, perhaps they were all in the wrong order ? For the secret of what I am on, ...[/quote]Ah, mais oui !My error was logging on to the forum at 9 in the morning with a clear head and an empty stomach Where we live it is possible (if you know the right people) at certain times of the year to buy the most beautiful Pomerol en vrac without breaking the bank.I have a cubie with 40 l. of it waiting to be bottled. I think I set to and get it done this afternoon. Of course I don't have quite enough bottles to empty it, so there will be a bit left in the bottom and - as Michael Flanders wrote - "..once it's been opened, you know it won't keep." Maybe tonight (if I can find the keyboard) I'll review your wise words, and comprehension will flood my brain (possibly). As for the music; I'm still exploring and still learning, but the celtic pipes require a stronger stomach (and possibly more of a tin ear) than I possess!paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 OK, I understand that the TV lic. is to be rolled into the tax d'habitation and have a question. What about those who do not pay habitation as they live in a corner of a renovation in progress? Our fonciere is all of 15€ and we did not even get the 10€ rebate that they gave us last year (no that is not a joke, it really happened). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Gyn Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 [quote]OK, I understand that the TV lic. is to be rolled into the tax d'habitation and have a question. What about those who do not pay habitation as they live in a corner of a renovation in progress? Our fo...[/quote]I suspect you will fall through the cracks......Look at it from the French government's point of view:- What percentage of the population don't live in a building on which taxe d'habitation is levied? My guess is it's a number small enough to be disregarded. paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 Di, In the words of one with wisdom (no, of course tis not me) don't put your hands up and let them find you whenever but for now, ignorance would for once, perhaps be firmly in your favour.Here again is yet another look into the workings of how Taxe Hab will be the way of collecting the redevance.You will notice that a previous thought on here of 8 million missing licence fees, is said to be 2 million and now even that will be hugely reduced. A case of one reading Le Soleil or le Figaro perhaps http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.liberation.fr/page.php%3FArticle%3D238700&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dredevance%2Bet%2Btaxe%2Bhabitation%26hl%3Den%26lr%3DPaul, I can't say if Pomerol can hit the spot sufficiently well enough to help unjumble the words but my posting was pretty clear again to me this morning after a long, wet and cold walk through the forest. Not to be taken too seriously but rather how I sometimes find this forum and persons who ask for help but ironically it may have whistled past Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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