Paying local taxes in France from the UK

[jonnyoneye]

I have a property near Bergerac and need to pay my local taxes on it.

In the past i have just sent cash (registered mail) to the collection office in Bergerac and it has all worked out fine. They now tell me however, that this is frowned upon and they do not wish it to continue. They don't accept a Credit card, nor apparently a bank transfer from the UK, i have no French bank account and so it is all becoming slightly difficult.

I've spoken to the HSBC here in the UK, as they have all my accounts here, but all they can offer is a Euro cheque at £20 per throw, or the option to open a Euro account at £36 per year and a £1 per cheque.

Has anyone had the same problem and solved it at reasonable expense ?  Possibly there is a bank in the UK that does not charge a fixed account rate ?  Any other ideas, or else my little woman in the Bergerac office will be receiving another brown envelope full of Euro wonga !

[Clair]

Have you looked into opening a French bank account?

You would be able to pay your local taxes online or write cheques.

[cooperlola]

I think it's time you bit the bullet and opened that French bank account.  If you have a property in France it's really easy to do; just go into any bank when you're over here with your passport and proof of your address here (your tax bills should be ideal!).  As long as you don't get plastic, they're cheap to run.  Then you can pop a wad of cash in when you're in France and write cheques when your bills come through.

The only alternative that I can see is to find a trusted friend with a French bank account and pay them in Euros then get them to write a cheque on your behalf. Or pay the ludicrous fees you mention....

EDIT : Clair beat me to it...

[suein56]

[quote user="cooperlola"]

I think it's time you bit the bullet and opened that French bank account. 

 As long as you don't get plastic, they're cheap to run.  Then you can pop a wad of cash in when you're in France and write cheques when your bills come through. [/quote]

I think possibly the cheapest is a cheque account with La Poste, as long as you say no to a plastic card as Coops says. IIRC it is about 6 euros a year to run and there is free internet transfers etc as well as the cheque book. So you could keep an eye on your money from afar.

Sue

[Keni]

I agtree with spg,

La Poste seems the best these days, we've been with Credit Ag. for several years and they charge us 6 euros per month and 6 euros per card per year. To transfer money via the Halifax in the UK to the French account is £17, so  if we had to do it again, we'd use La Poste

[Benjamin]

[quote user="jonnyoneye"]

I have a property near Bergerac and need to pay my local taxes on it.

In the past i have just sent cash (registered mail) to the collection office in Bergerac and it has all worked out fine. They now tell me however, that this is frowned upon and they do not wish it to continue.

 Any other ideas, or else my little woman in the Bergerac office will be receiving another brown envelope full of Euro wonga !

[/quote]

They have no rights whatsoever to refuse to accept payment in cash so long as it's below 3.500€.

This is just some jumped up little fonctionaire who doesn't like having the hassle of handling cash. If they moan again ask them to put their instruction in writing.

Mind you, if ever you need a favour from them in the future....................[6]

[Will]

Sending cash through the French post to the Trésor Public may be possible, and even legally allowed, but it's certainly not to be recommended.

You can pay by bank transfer, but you would need to get the IBAN/Swift details of your local treasury, and find an English bank that has a clearing arrangement (or persuade your bank that it is a legitimate account) and make sure that the payment was linked to your reference number, and by the time you have paid the transfer fees that's not likely to be a very economic option.

So a French bank account looks like the best choice. We pay nothing for our Société Générale account, but in view of recent events you may prefer to avoid that bank. The thing that puts a lot of people off La Poste is giving the village postmistress (Lark Rise to Candleford is alive and well in rural France) access to your financial affairs - though if you only use the account to pay a few local bills that might be less of an issue.

[allanb]

Benjamin wrote: "They have no rights whatsoever to refuse to accept payment in cash so long as it's below 3.500€.

This is just some jumped up little fonctionaire who doesn't like having the hassle of handling cash."

I think you're being unfair. The OP didn't say that it was refused, only that it was frowned upon. If I was in charge of receiving payments - in any business, not just the tax office - I would certainly discourage people from sending cash by mail. It's not the hassle of handling it: it's the hassle of possibly losing it. "Yes I did send it!" "Well we didn't receive it!" "You must have done!" "We didn't!" And so on, ad nauseam.

I agree with Will, and I would add a point: surely if you have a house in France there will be other payments you will need to make from time to time.

[Benjamin]

I have no doubt that their biggest worry is safely handling the cash once they receive it as this is an added concern over receiving a cheque or bank transfer and presumably jonnyoneye sends it recorded with a receipt from the recipient.

The point I was making, and I don't for one moment think I'm being unfair, is when anyone in authority uses that position to attempt to impose their will onto a Public that they are actually paid to serve.

[allanb]

I suppose it depends on what was actually said - which, of course, we don't know.

If the fonctionnaire said "We don't allow cash, Monsieur; you must pay by cheque or bank transfer in future" that's one thing.

If he said "Thank you for the payment, Monsieur, but I would really advise you to pay by cheque or bank transfer in future, because of the risk of loss" that's another - and personally I would agree with him.

Any competent cashier, assuming that he's honest, will try to discourage payment by cash through the mail.  Of course, if he's a crook, he will think it's a great idea.

[KathyF]

I'm afraid I'm another who would encourage you to open a French bank account, Jonny. We opend ours with Britline (Credit Agricole) before we signed the Acte de Vente on our second home, and now pay just about all our French bills (utilities and taxes) by direct debit from it. It saves all the worry about bills reaching you (we've moved house twice in the UK since we bought the cottage) and makes keeping track of expenses much easier. 

[mona]

sorry, bit of a digression but does anyone know why French institutions don't enable credit card payments?

[Clair]

Some do: you can pay a traffic fine online with your bank card.

[andyh4]

[quote user="mona"]sorry, bit of a digression but does anyone know why French institutions don't enable credit card payments?[/quote]

 

Becasue it costs them money

Typically: Visa and Mastercard 3,5-4,5%

Amex   4,5 - 6%

Diners 5,5-7%

 

So given that they are not into giving discounts to cash payers, no credit cards - which is different to debit cards.

[jonnyoneye]

To all of you who have been kind enough to reply to my original question, i thank you.

Covering some of the suggestions given, i would comment as follows:

Cash was never refused, only that the dear lady it was sent to, e-mailed me to say that it was not how she wanted it to continue arriving, presumably because she did'nt want the responsibility, etc,. It was always sent registered mail and so there was little chance of it going missing in transit, but of course that tracking of the cash really ended as soon as it had arrived and was opened.

Transferring the monies direct into the collectors account via the banking system, was always my preferred method, but the local collection office has informed me that this is not possible and will therefore not pass on any IBAN or account number, etc,. I have in the past transferred monies to various parts of the World with little or no problem at all, so why they see that as a problem if it helps an individual make a contribution to their coffers, i will never know !

Credit cards and Debit cards are also not accepted, possibly for the reasons given by one of the earlier contributors, which seems a valid explaination.

I pay no other bills on the house, because i have been unable to visit properly for 10 years now owing to a second family in the UK who apparently do not like the thought of France (now they tell me !) and the fact that i work abroad a lot of the time and when i'm off i really have to spend the time with them. I'm slowly getting the feeling that i should sell anyway, so perhaps the need to pay these bills will go away over the next few years, unless the children want to take it all over ......and then it becomes their problem !

Anyway, i'm just off to my local branch of the HSBC to arrange another Euro bank draft and this should hopefully keep both the French government and my little lady in Bergerac happy......oh and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, with their extortionate charges !

Many thanks again to you all. Enjoy France, i just wish i could enjoy it again as much as i used to 10+ years ago. Maybe one day.......................

[Will]

Jonnyoneye

We had a relative who owned a wreck in France for many years (before he sold it) and had to pay local tax and insurance every year. He just gave us the sterling equivalent, and we paid on his behalf with a cheque from our French bank account. Do you know somebody else with an account in France who could do the same for you?

[cooperlola]

I suggested this way back, Will, and now the circumstances are revealed it seems to me to be the perfect option.  There may even be somebody on here who lives near you in the UK, then you could do a physical swap of money for cheque and it's sorted.  Cheques cost nothing for somebody with a French bank account.

[Wibblywobbly]

My solution was to open a French bank account and have a friends wife, resident in France, as a dual signatory. She also has a cheque book. Any bills for Artisans etc are paid by her. The EDF and Saur are paid by me simply by signing the TIP slip and sending it back. The property insurance is on a direct debit so that is taken care of too. This also gives me a French card, and that is invaluable for buying fuel on a Sunday!

The account is with Caisse D'Epargne and I have internet access so that I can check the balance. When it gets low I send a sterling cheque to my friends, and they pay it into the account. Large sums for renovation work are done via BACS, and though I get stung for £20, that is small fry compared with the sums involved.

My ideal solution would be another Paypal account in France, linked to my French Bank account, I could then transfer money from the UK to France without any problem at all, but having made enquiries this is not possible.

I didn't know about La Poste, I may well open an account there? When you say that internet transfers are free, how does this mechanism work and do I escape the UK bank charges on UK to France transfers?

Cheers

Rob G

 

 

[Benjamin]

[quote user="Wibblywobbly"]

My ideal solution would be another Paypal account in France, linked to my French Bank account, I could then transfer money from the UK to France without any problem at all, but having made enquiries this is not possible.

Cheers

Rob G

 

[/quote]

That's exactly what we do with Moneybookers.

They also(inadvertently as it happens) gave us an account with a French bank and reference number where we could (if we had any spare!) transfer funds from France to the UK.

[AnOther]

[quote user="Wibblywobbly"]My ideal solution would be another Paypal account in France, linked to my French Bank account, I could then transfer money from the UK to France without any problem at all, but having made enquiries this is not possible.[/quote]I don't know of whom you have enquired but I have both UK and French Paypal A/C's and can transfer money between them with no difficulty.

I have only recently opened the French one and hadn't actually used it yet but as a result of your post this evening I did a simple test transfer of just £10.

I got a rate of 1.28, which is less than brilliant but better than say M&S at 1.265, plus there was a "receiving fee" of £0.59.

All in all then this would not be my chosen vehicle for major or regular transfers but handy to have the facility all the same.