Help please Form H1

[Loire]

Hi

I received a very worrying form H1 and covering letter yesterday from the local impots office. My French is not good enough to understand much of it, but it seems that they think I have had quite extensive works done to my maison secondaire. Chance would be a fine thing! My house is in a disgusting state and barely habitable even for short periods. All I have had done is the electrics relaced in some of the house (previous were old but working), new bathroom suite (only diffrence is there is now a bath as well as shower), the previous tiles there and in kitchen replaced, 2 rooms painted and a wall knocked down between what used to be sitingroom and livingroom, making it one bigger room. The Mairie know exactly what has been done and I have not needed a declaration de traveaux.

Most worrying is that they need me to complete and return the form within 30 days, it took a while to arrive in UK, I am very ill with chronic illness but nevertheless having to deal with some very urgent and important matters here, and they want info like what type of finish is on the walls (answer, falling-off sort of plaster on most), dimensions of rooms etc, but I cannot go to France at the moment for the reasons I have given. A telephone call to them would be very difficult with my limited French, particularly when it comes to technical language, and nobody in the impots office  (or my village and most of the surrounding area) speaks English. I realise I am going to have to have a bash at phoning, but before I do, is there anyone who could give me more info about the form, the circs in which such forms are sent and whether it is appropriate in my circs please? Any info would be very gratefully received.

Thanks

Regards

Loire

[Hereford]

There are people in France who will make telephone calls for you if your French is not good.  If you do not have access to any advertising here I can look in a magazine/paper for you.  I think the Living France mag has ads. for this service.  I will look myself  in any case later this morning..  We were given one of these forms at one point and sent it straight to our "maitre d'oeuvre" to fill in!

H.

[londoneye]

this is sound advice.    My french varies from non existent to passable (depending on the day in question!), but I still use someone (who has retired now or i would give you her contact) on the odd occasion to make important calls for me.   It doesn't cost much (well it doesnt cost anything for me anymore as my translator has become a friend, but it didnt cost much when i paid either) and its worth it for the peace of mind of knowing that you really have understood the situation fully and provided the correct information.

[Cat]

I could be wrong, but I thought that the H1 form only comes into play when the planned renovation work is completed, to allow the tax authorities to revise your taxe d'habitation. If you have not yet finished the work then all you (or a translator) should need to do is to let them know the date you anticipate completion on of the work.

You would still need to submit the form when the work is finished, but you might gain some breathing space until then.

 

[Loire]

Thank you all very much. Luckily, a French friend has returned to London unexpectedly and will phone them tomorrow. What a stroke of luck and what a kind friend!

Regards

Loire

[andyh4]

Kathy

Form H1 is normally issued based on the issue of a PdC or DdT.  Finishing the work is not a requirement - in fact our first payment (18 months after the issue of the PdC) was almost beofre the work was complete.

Quite why Loire has received an H1 is a bit of a mystery if his/her work was entirely internal.

[Deimos]

No idea what your letter said but I was considering converting an attic and an architect who came to advice of PdC or DdT or neither called the wherever it is to check on something (nothing to do with proposed renovation, etc. and a few weeks later I got an H1 in the post. No letter, just a form - which I have ignored though still too early to know if they will follow up further.

I'm not too concerned as I have not completed any changes yet and I think they were either being helpful or speculative (only started last week without the need for any PdC nor DdT).

Ian

[Pierre ZFP]

I just remembered that I had an H1 to complete when I first moved in 8 years ago.  The house had previously been renovated but had stood empty for 18 months or so before we bought it.  The Mayor popped by to see us and explaind that the H1 was just  to check that the house dimensions agreed to thaose they had on file.  I did a quick measure and gave it in.  Never heard anything else afterwards.

[Will]

If the impôts think the house may have been altered or improved since they last assessed it, either of which could affect the valuation for local taxes, then you may get one of these forms to complete. As others have said, the system is invariably triggered by a planning application but other things can do likewise. Just your discussion with the maire, perhaps. People have been known to get quite a shock when they find that previous improvements etc have escaped the tax people and they suddenly find themselves reassessed at a much higher value, even if they have done little or nothing themselves. Not saying this will happen to the original poster, but it is something to bear in mind if your taxes seem lower than most.

[Patf]

We recieved an H1 once  when we hadn't done any relevant works. I  wrote a short note saying we'd done nothing yet and sent the form back. All OK. Can you get a friend to draft a note for you in french? Something like - nous n'avons pas fait des travaux . signee:. Pat.