Here's a real money graber

[Egoprime]

My wife and I, because of medical reasons, have had to sell our house in the South of France.

My first bit of news is that 9000€ will be kept by a French department called Sarf Azur they seem to be part of the Director General des Impots, they will hold this money for four years and one month. WHY I hear you ask, its because my estate agent sold the house in two parts firstly the cost of the house secondly she put 30000€ down as furniture. I had saved most of the bills for the furniture and have now given them to the Notaire. Our translator at the signing over of the house thought it was scandalous?. If anyone is thinking of selling gather all your bills you will need them! Buy the way we were only informed of this surprise at the signing.

Secondly this department of France wants a "attestation Etablie par l'inland Revenue" dated 2005, we informed the notaire that we are retired, a long conversation between our interpreter and the notaire followed and a shrug of the shoulders, "you must ask your tax office" I have done this today and guess what the UK tax office do not know what I am talking about, But heres the doozy, they are holding back 10200€ till I can produce this Certificate!!!!

And thirdly there is a new survey that must be carried out by a rich frenchman, its to make sure the house is "mechanical sound" the vendor pays for this I paid 480€.

Sorry this is so long but if anyone out there is thinking of selling !BEWARE!

I will be interested if any one else has had these surprises!

Ron (I once thought I was rich till I sold in France)

 

 

[BJSLIV]

They are a financial intermediary, a bit like a Trustee, who are owned by a group of banks.Thy are not part of the Fisc.

What has happened is that you have drawn attention to yourselves for two reasons.

Firstly I would guess that you are not financially resident in France, ie you haven't completed French tax returns. As a consequence your property is a maison secondaire and therefore liable to Capital Gains Tax. This is higher if you are financially resident outside the EU, so you if you haven't paid Income Tax in France , you will need proof from wherever you are liable to tax, UK I assume, hrnce the reference to Inland Revenue.

Once that is cleared , then they can calculate your liability.

Secondly you have attracted attention by having what seems to be a high value for furnishings etc. In addition to the first problem I outlined above, the notaire has a suspicion that you are trying to minimise sale taxes and Capital Gains Tax, by overstating the true value of the fittings. £20000 might seem to be a lot of secondhand furniture for a maison secondaire.

You have to remember that the notaire is responsible for correrctly collecting any tax due.

If there is any doubt then a sum is retained by the outfit you mentioned until the Fisc are satisfied, or for a maximum of 4 years 1 month.

The system changed this year, prviously you paid the CGT with your normal tax return. When that applied evryone non-resident had to appoint one of these representatives, just in case they did a runner leaving unpaid tax behind them. Nowadays the notaire deducts the CGT at the point of the sale, but if there are any doubts........

This link gives a bit of info.

http://www.sarf.fr/fichiers/anglais.pdf

 

 

[Baz]

I think BJSLIV comment is where the problem lies "you have attracted attention by having what seems to be a high value for furnishings etc. In addition to the first problem I outlined above, the notaire has a suspicion that you are trying to minimise sale taxes and Capital Gains Tax, by overstating the true value of the fittings. £20000 might seem to be a lot of secondhand furniture for a maison secondaire."

When I sold my Maison Secondaire last year  I was in the fortunate position to have one of the most respected Notaires in the region. He quickly guided me to the maximum charge that I could make for the house contents without alerting the tax authorities. The amount was about 25% of your  amount quoted, even though I had invoices to confirm a much higher amount. As a result of his guidance everything went through smoothly and with the new CGT laws in France my liabilities in France were virtually nil and zero in the UK. Remember, even with Double taxation laws between France and the UK, the UK Inland Revenue will still look very carefully at your figures.

Baz

[Egoprime]

Thanks Guys

I did suspected that Madam was Trying it on. OH TO FIND A TRUSTED estate agent.

I pretty sure now that a few envelopes were passed under the table?

Still only me to blame, But I did spend a lot on Furniture When we added it up ie lights, soft furnishings, beds, swimming pool, plants, and rugs it did add up to quite a lot, BUT did not keep all the bills some came from Blighty.

Still once again thanks for you input

RON getting richer

[Teamedup]

Swimming Pool? Wouldn't that be easy to class as as much a part of the property as the kitchen or bathroom, just never struck me that a swimming pool would be a furnishing really.