zrx1100 Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 We hope to complete our house sale in November and will be moving over to France (staying with the outlaws!) to then start to look for our ideal property. Do most people just put the money from the sale in a instant access high interest account (egg or ing etc) ready for the eventual house sale? Does this attract the attention of the UK/French taxman to take a big chunk or will I just pay the tax on the interest earned. I have also heard of currency companies (moneycorp etc), is it best to get a good euro price fix with them instead and leave it there, but of course no interest is then earned? Helpful advice please! Just want to know what you would do/did do? Would be about 140k if that makes any difference, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradford Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Hi,As you are going to need a French Bank Account if you do not already have one and will require the money in France, I would enquire about savings type accounts there. I would then use a company such as HIFX (no association with me, however I get a bottle of wine if I do recommend someone!). You will get a rate of exchange about 6 cents higher than the bank rate. The more money that you exchange the higher the rate they will be able to get for you. The advantage is that it will cost you nothing in transfer fees. Some companies state there are no fees in their advertising, then add a fee to their quote. Another advantage is that you know that your money is already in France as and when it is required. Hope that helps.Sorry about the error, should have said cents not euros! Correct now. Thanks for the input!Regards Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie15 Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 The interest rates on French savings accounts are awful! I would look into saving the money in a UK high interest instant access account ( or similar) until nearer the time, then transfer it. The point about exchange rates is obviously valid but who knows how long is a piece of string? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 "You will get a rate of exchange about 6 euros higher than the bank rate."Paul, That's fantastic, I will have some of that. Baz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alnmike Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 Best place for tax free income we discovered was premium bonds! I kid you not. I think everyone can have £30000, and if you do have the maximum the odds are a tax free win every month. And your stake is safe and returned within 14 days of requesting! We did this and got a return over 5 months of 15%, tax free! To get the euros I agree tha HIFX are good, and to manage budgeting you can buy on a 'forward trade' which will cost you 10% now and the rest when you receive the funds. And the euro rate is fixed. (Or if you're not sure of exchange rates, you could fix half only) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradford Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Hi,Me again,Premium Bonds a good idea just so long as you are not tax resident in France when you win. As I understand it not tax free in France!Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham34 Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Premium Bonds are fine as long as one understands you are gambling with your interest. Held the maximum amount for around 3 years and despite being a 40% taxpayer gained as much as a very average building society accound. If you don't pay UK tax then don't consider it.They are also unsuitable for short periods as you wait at least a month before you are eligible for the monthly draw.Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 And once you become tax resident in France you have a liability to income tax on any wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zrx1100 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 Thanks for the feedback everyone. Thanks also Steve for the offer but .... no thanks! The premium bonds idea sounds quite good for part of what we will have but the term 'tax resident' is confusing me a little (never been very good with financial stuff!). Does that mean living in france and paying tax because of earnings? If so before we buy a house we will not be working at all so any premium bond winnings would be free from tax wouldn't they? Also (a bit cheeky I know) but if any winnings simply bought more premium bonds instead of a cheque to me, then who would know, especially in France? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Yes until you move there is no tax liability. The rate of interest they pay into the kitty is 3% and the chance of any bond winning is 1 in 24000. You can buy up to £30000 per person, so on average you should win something, probably £50, each month. If you did that it's equal to 2% but free of tax its better than you would achieve in France. plus the money still in the UK if you change your mind....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zrx1100 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 Sorry, probably didn't make myself that clear, we will be in France (November) but staying with relations but not working, so are we tax resident? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jehe Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 We recently had the same concern but finally settled for the Abbey 'instant access' account offering 5.1% gross.We caught a cold however by forward booking our exchange rates for 6 months with a major currency company - for every month forward booked the exchange rate drops by something like a point. We fortunately found a property after a month and found that we were only getting a rate of 1.43 against a current rate approaching 1.47....We actually were convinced the pound would weaken against the euro - so much for being clever!!!Good luck,Jim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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