Albert the InfoGipsy Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 AE is actually the 'auto-entrepreneur' business regime -- for most trades it's the simplest way of starting a small business.http://www.pbss-uk.com/AEGuide_March2009_EN.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprogster Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 In my humble opinion it is economic madness nowadays to contemplate retirement in your early forties, unless you are a multi-millionaire, as with inflation rearing its ugly head again it is extremely unlikely you will have built up a pension pot of sufficient size to last fifty years or more.The right for an EU citizen to reside in any other EU country in fact is qualified, in that you must have sufficient resources not to be a burden.To this end the French government are clearly not keen on low income early retirees joining their health care system and whatever the EU say, France will make it as difficult and expensive as possible to join by way of deterrent, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oboulez Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Sprogster - in my case I had to 'retire'. I had the offer to stay on for an extra 6 months, however the difference between pay and pension would have meant that I would have been working for £150 per week. A bit of a no brainer really! Some of us really do not have a choice as to when we 'retire' - or call it a change of life. That said, I only have to earn the equivalent of that £150 per week to break even. Not a bad prospect really. I could cut grass for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprogster Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Presumably you will be looking for work eventually to supplement your pension income and that is when you might have to look back to the UK.I am sure you are taking a well deserved break, but you are still a youngster with most of your life ahead of you and it is unlikely your forces pension will survive the ravages of inflation over such a long period of time, as your buying power will decline year on year, especially if the £ weakens further over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Well if you set up an AE business to cut grass for a few hours a week you would be able to get into the health system in France immediately. No need for five years.If you choose not to you wait under the present regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprogster Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Norman, is it really that easy in practice? I would have thought knowing the French they would crack down on the use of the AE scheme as a loophole to get health cover, by applying some form of minimum level of contribution, or just be plain obstructive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daft Doctor Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Sprogster, I think you'll find that armed forces and other UK public sector pensions are raised annually by UK CPI inflation, so the value of any pension (there is no pension pot as such) is indeed protected (to a degree) against inflation. One thing is sure, you cannot 'rewind and re-record' your life, so as long as you pay your way and aren't a burden on France (or anywhere else you choose to live) why not spend those irretrievable years at leisure rather than at work?? Why all of a sudden does it become 'acceptable' to retire at say 60 or 65 but not ok at say 50 or 55? If you 'work to live' rather than 'live to work' then you look forward to hopefully being in the position when you can live (financially) without work. Nothing wrong with that in my book........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprogster Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Daft Doctor, we are talking about someone who is just 40, not fifties.I assume you are lucky to have an NHS pension as a retired Doctor, which is not comparable to an enlisted soldiers Army pension with just over twenty years service, which I know from relatives pay peanuts by comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daft Doctor Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Point taken Sprogster, I'm certainly not familiar with the specifics of Service as opposed to NHS pensions. I just wanted to make a distinction between the bad idea of retiring early without adequate financial means and the (IMO) great idea of retiring early to make most of the one and only life we get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 [quote user="Sprogster"]Norman, is it really that easy in practice? I would have thought knowing the French they would crack down on the use of the AE scheme as a loophole to get health cover, by applying some form of minimum level of contribution, or just be plain obstructive![/quote]That's a very immigrant/expat oriented view of things. Most AEs are French and already in the 'system' from salaries, pensions or ayant droit via a spouse. I very much doubt if any French fonctionnaires are busy looking for Brits in the way you seem to expect. Unless you do something else that attracts attention I can't see anyone investigating your circumstances.Anyway, if you turn over 50€ a week (2.5K a year), which equates to 'a few hours of grass cutting' you'll be doing as well as many AEs.It would be perfectly simple for the powers that be to adjust the AE rules so that it could not be used as someone's only route into health cover, or to impose a minimum contribution level. The fact that they have not, although other rules have been tweaked, indicates that it is not a big preoccupation in Paris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oboulez Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 You are certainly right about the fluctuations in the value of the £. This was always on my radar. My residual monthly pension after all bills etc have been paid has just gone up by 50 Euros in the past few days. The exchange rate is now 1.153. Just transferred some cash to France before it goes back down again to what it was a couple of days ago!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob T Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Quote Sprogster: "To this end the French government are clearly not keen on low income early retirees joining their health care system and whatever the EU say, France will make it as difficult and expensive as possible to join by way of deterrent, in my opinion."OK so I came here in 2004 with my RAF pension of less than £6000 pa. It is still the same amount and will be till I get to 55. What I want to know is how are the French government going to make it more expensive for me? Are the going to charge me a higher rate for medication than French people? I thought that they would have to comply with EU rules (eventually). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpinemist Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 We unfortunately can't get a S1 as we lived abroad prior to moving to France so have been expates for a while. We made sacrifices to enable us to semi retire and also have friends that have had serious illnesses recently so thought to ourselves why keep working so hard, there's more to life so why not give it a go.On the AE, I'm keen to start something. Read all the info but if I start start something I may not get work immediately. Need to build up a client base. Is there a minimum you need to earn before you can get on the AE scheme and join the french health scheme. Also any drawbacks I should consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 No you are covered immediately with no minimum turnover, but you have to pay contributions at some point, or the business can no longer carry onSeehttp://www.startbusinessinfrance.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpinemist Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Thanks for the link Norman.That looks like a good source of info, I'll join that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 This is a specimen of her online videos.http://www.startbusinessinfrance.com/index.php/video/auto-entrepreneur/video-how-to-register-as-an-auto-entrepreneur-online(I have no connection with the lady or her business, but her site has helped friends of mine) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 [quote user="NormanH"]No you are covered immediately with no minimum turnover, but you have to pay contributions at some point, or the business can no longer carry on[/quote]Currently the limit is two years without declaring any turnover. It was originally 1 year, then changed to 3 and then down to 2. If it takes more than 2 years to get your first customer payment then you've chosen the wrong game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 [quote user="Sprogster"]Daft Doctor, we are talking about someone who is just 40, not fifties.I assume you are lucky to have an NHS pension as a retired Doctor, which is not comparable to an enlisted soldiers Army pension with just over twenty years service, which I know from relatives pay peanuts by comparison.[/quote]But as you said here: [quote user="Sprogster"].......you are still a youngster with most of your life ahead of you and it is unlikely your forces pension will survive the ravages of inflation over such a long period of time, as your buying power will decline year on year, especially if the £ weakens further over the years.[/quote]its inflation you are saying will make sure that the pension won't survive - but if the forces pension is protected against inflation and they can live on it now then what is the problem? Whether it is 'peanuts' is relative - peanuts to you might be a fortune to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oboulez Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 As earlier posted, I have just moved pernamently to France and in receipt of a UK goverment pension - which of course is taxed in the UK. I am in the process of opening a french bank account and have received a declaration sur l'honneur justification de la qualite de residence fiscale. For the above purposes, can anybody advise whether I am a resident fiscal in france or non resident fiscal? My intention is to live here pernamently, and asap get into 'the system'. I currently pay the necessary propety taxes etc for what was previously our holiday home but is now our main address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsnips Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Hi, Although you will not have to make a french tax declaration till next Spring , the french authorities regard you as fiscally resident from the day you arrive (intending to stay), so you can declare "sur l'honneur" without any problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikew Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Bit late now, but useful site to change address for local and income tax purposes etchttp://www.impots.gouv.fr/portal/dgi/public/particuliers.impot?espId=1&pageId=part_logement&sfid=1220used it - works ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keni Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 One thing I'll mention amongst all this is to let your UK doctor know you have moved and ask for a copy of your medical records. We registered with our local 'Medicin' and she has asked us if possible to get copies of our previous records, so she knows our history. If you have had recent treatment it helps the Doc to know this. Our UK Doc gave us our last 3 years' records, but says we'll have to pay for the whole lot. Make sure when you write to your Doc in UK you let him/her have the name of your new Doc in France and your new address. Also let your old dentist know you've moved. This stops them sending out reminders etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oboulez Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 As I have mentioned earlier in this post, I am in receipt of a UK Govt service pension which is of course taxed at source. Following a nasty shock from HMRC the other day re their dream that this was to be taxed at 40% (an error funnily enough), on phoning them I discovered that should have completed a Form P85 as I was leaving the UK but receiving income from the UK by way of pension (this also applies for income through property or other means). I have not heard of this, and I am sure many others have not either. Anyway, the conversation led to the discovery that after completing the P85, it is then possible to have your income taxed in France as opposed to the UK. Posters here have mentioned AE as a way of getting into the French system, however presumably if my pension was taxed in France, these contributions would likewise get me into the system. Not only do I have absolutely no desire in continuing to subsidise the shower of s**t in the UK who live off the backs of the law abiding hard working taxpayer, I have a 10 month old son who will be brought up here as a Frenchman, so I would prefer my taxes to contribute to his education etc.Has anybody any knowledge or experience of having a pension taxed in France, and if so how does this compare to the tax rates in the UK? Whilst I do not want to talk figures, it is a reasonable pension as opposed to a handful of grand a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinabee Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Quote Louise&Gary "As I have mentioned earlier in this post, I am in receipt of a UK Govt service pension which is of course taxed at source. Following a nasty shock from HMRC the other day re their dream that this was to be taxed at 40% (an error funnily enough), on phoning them I discovered that should have completed a Form P85 as I was leaving the UK but receiving income from the UK by way of pension (this also applies for income through property or other means). I have not heard of this, and I am sure many others have not either. Anyway, the conversation led to the discovery that after completing the P85, it is then possible to have your income taxed in France as opposed to the UK." UK Govt Service pensions will still be taxed in the UK, even after completing a P85. If you have other income from the UK, e.g. savings interest, other pensions, then these can be taxed in France. For savings interest you complete a form R015 and send it to your bank, for other pensions, you need to complete a France Individual form and submit it with your next French tax form."Posters here have mentioned AE as a way of getting into the French system, however presumably if my pension was taxed in France, these contributions would likewise get me into the system." Paying tax in France does not get you into the Social Security or healthcare system, this is achieved by working or running a business and paying "cotisations" (similar to National Insurance)."Not only do I have absolutely no desire in continuing to subsidise the shower of s**t in the UK who live off the backs of the law abiding hard working taxpayer, I have a 10 month old son who will be brought up here as a Frenchman, so I would prefer my taxes to contribute to his education etc. Has anybody any knowledge or experience of having a pension taxed in France, and if so how does this compare to the tax rates in the UK?" Tax rates in France are generally lower, but cotisations generally higher, but with a Govt Service Pension you don't get a choice where you pay tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oboulez Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Thanks TB, you sound like you know what you are talking about. The person at HMRC said that completion of the P85 was not the process per se, rather than the start of the process by which my pension could ultimately should I wish be taxed here. Was she giving me duff gen??Is there any other way of getting a cotisation other than working etc? I do not actually need to work from a financial point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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