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Foncieres - paying monthly?


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I've received my Foncieres bill for 2011, payable by 17 October (27€ increase on last year). For the past 7 years I've paid it as a single lump sum. In future I'd like to pay by the 10 monthly instalment option. Having read the terms and conditions I can't understand whether I can pay this year's bill by this method. I've subscribed already and it appears to have been accepted with the first payment due on January 15 2012 but I haven't received a schedule yet. It was only afterwards that it occurred to me that perhaps this would be paying next year's bill in advance? In which case how would they assess it if the rate hasn't been set yet?

 

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Yes - you will be paying next years bill in advance and will still have to settle this years.  They use the eleventh and (twelfth if necessary) months to charge you the difference between this years rate and next years.  So you basically pay ten instalments based on this years rate and then the difference between this year and next year in November 2012.

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Neither can I Sid yet all my French friends think i am mad to pay it in one lump sum, they just cannot see where I am coming from, once I have robbed Peter to pay the bill there is no question of me being able to start paying again for one that is not yet due, as much as i would like to pay monthly, its always such a struggle at this time of year.

I think maybe they once they moved into their properties, usually paying the Notaire their proportion of the current years bill immediately started paying monthly, had I known i would have, too late now.

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Chancer, agreed!

Idun, Easier paying monthly? That's what I hoped. The next few months, into the new year, are always difficult for us, the "foncieres", then an oil bill, quickly followed by the "assurances". I've resisted paying some of these by monthly payments simply to keep control of the outgoings myself, and for some there is an admin charge; seems daft in retrospect, the money still has to go out at some point. I'm really struggling to see how it helps with the foncieres though; for other things it's payment in arrears or at least as you go, as far as I can see.

What's the best time to get on this scheme for foncieres then? I'll have to pay 1000€-plus in the next few weeks and then start paying 100€ a month (I guess) in January. By next June (just taking that as an example), I'll be 600€ worse off already and the bill won't even be in for another couple of months. Yes, I can see that by October it would all be settled, except perhaps for a small adjustment, but the logic of the advantage is lost on me.

I simply can't see any of the French people we know paying like this ( I really must do a poll); they don't like paying for anything! You should see the lengths they go to to avoid paying for water... but you probably have seen that before! [:D]

No point in my labouring the issue; it won't change anything. I must be in a Mr Grumpy mood today. [:@]

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Judith, I know, I'm just feeling miffed! 

I've signed-up now so I'll chew it over for a couple of days before deciding about backing out. You're right about this time next year; there won't be a lump sum to fork out, but it's just the next few months that I'm worrying about.

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The taxe foncieres and impot locaux we paid was in around Oct/Nov. Our house/car insurance were always paid in either Dec or Jan, I'd have to look it up. Plus any excess taxes would have to be paid in autumn.  Plus the water bill, and ours was never cheap.

 

All in all these were huge bills. It meant a very tight christmas for a few years as when we first had our house built with it's 17-18% mortgage we were skint anyway.

We bit the bullet and put as much as we could on prelevement and started one January. Hard at first, and the following christmas we had some money in the bank. Trouble is that when we are not well off, we find it very hard to leave money aside for such bills and end up living hand to mouth.

It worked for us, that is all I could say. Two good friends told me I was mad doing it, but one of them is very canny with money and will always pay the bills on the very last day she can as she always  has the money there.

 

 

 

 

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[quote user="Chancer"]

Neither can I Sid yet all my French friends think i am mad to pay it in one lump sum, they just cannot see where I am coming from, [/quote]

 

Very astute, your friends. Obviously there is a good discount for paying in advance - What? - None? [:-))]

You could die before the bill is due [:D]

 

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[quote user="nomoss"][quote user="Chancer"]

Neither can I Sid yet all my French friends think i am mad to pay it in one lump sum, they just cannot see where I am coming from, [/quote]

 

Very astute, your friends. Obviously there is a good discount for paying in advance - What? - None? [:-))]

You could die before the bill is due [:D]

 

[/quote]

 

And there was me thinking that the bill was always due in France? [Www] Dead or alive!

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I'll never pay bills in advance. Why should the government or anyone else get the interest on my money?

You're better off paying the €100 a month into a savings account. As well as getting the interest, little as it is, if you do have an unexpected expense you can 'borrow' out of your savings rather than taking out a loan.
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Thing is - you're not really paying in advance, are you. At least not to any extent. You're paying-as-you-go. It just seems like a poor deal because you have the opportunity to pay in arrears. But there needs to be a pay by instalments option and you can't really expect them to let you start paying for Jan-Dec 2011, in 2012. As for what if you die mid-way through a year, well you will still owe the money for your 'unexpired' months and I can't see la RF letting you off just because you're dead ...
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Hi i am new to this thread so I hope you are still reading it! I signed up for monthly instrallments a couple of years ago, simply to avoid receiving a huge bill. However, they never send me a schedule of payments for the coming year and consequently have very little paperwork regarding tax paid. Why is this and how can i get a receipt at least?
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The schedule was always on our bill when it came, right at the bottom. Call your tresorie and they'll send you a copy. I used to look at our account on the impots web site too, you can look all this up on your account, if you submit on the internet.
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I can never imagine having enough spare cash to pay a lump sum as big as either of the local taxes .

I 'mensualise' everything, water, electricity Mutuelle etc., after struggling with one or two big bills in my first winter.

You can even do this for income tax, so it seems like PAYE.

I know there may be a slight advantage in putting it into a savings account then paying out when the bill arrives, but in any case sid you would have to start saving it as soon as you have paid this years.

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  • 4 months later...
How do you sign up for monthly payments?

We have just received our first TF bill now for 2011 in Jan 2012 - it was originally sent to the previous owner by mistake, who then contested it, and we have now been correctly billed with a payment due in Feb..

No problem clearing this outstanding bill, but It might be more useful to go prelevement..

Many thanks..

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Update: I did, in the end, sign up for the monthly payments, having paid the lump sum in October 2011.  I received confirmation that I would get a schedule by post for 2012 monthly payment amounts. Well, the schedule did duly arrive on 16th of January, showing that the first payment would be taken on.... 16th January! Some advance notice that is!

Nver mind, I feel relieved now that I won't have the big lump to fork out at the end of the year. Thanks for all the pro and con opinions.

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