The bit I didn't take into account on CGT

[Babbles]

We've just sold our second home in the Gers and I'd like to highlight an important bit of info I missed when we decided to accept a low offer.

There has been much discussion about the change in what is alowed to be claimed in the new plue value rules, which is anoying as you when you made your mind up to do the work it was included anyway thats beside the point. Our agent never told us when we we're asking about if there were any fees we'd have to pay as sellers, the buyer would pay the notaire and the estate agents fees, and we'd pay for the specialist reports completely failing to tell us that the is a 1% fee for calculating your capital gains based on the selling price even if there is nothing to pay, which is a significant amout as its wholly based on selling price.

So if your looking to accept a low offer on a second home your selling, please take into account this fee as we only found out the actual amount it cost 3 days before the completion which was a double blow as they decided not to include half our builders factures in the CGT valuation.

Anyway we're of to Mallorca in search of better weather and a more cosmopolitan lifestyle but a whole lot of new rules and regs to find out about![:)]

[Benjamin]

Who did you pay the 1% fee to?

[Sunday Driver]

A [url=http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-legal/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=27902]useful article[/url] which explains things.

 

[woolybananasbrother]

Yes, SD, they are getting very tough indeed these days. But I wonder about the legality of applying this only to non-French persons. I also wonder if the companies get a percentage of the take over and above their fees, and whether they are not in fact owned by the notaires themselves.

[mint]

Is it too late for me to train as a French fiscal agent?[:(]

[mona]

Does this apply if you sell even when you've owned the property for 10 or more years! 

[Bugsy]

[quote user="woolybananasbrother"] But I wonder about the legality of applying this only to non-French persons. 

[/quote]

Non French Resident is more accurate Wooly

[Babbles]

As far as I know they are fiscale agents who the Notaire instructs, which as far as I'm aware is open to abuse and back handers I'm sure there are good and bad just as there are good and bad Notaires, I'm still not sure what redress you have if you don't agree with what they say, but I got the distint feeling they won't look that closely at the factures before they rule them out. 

It has to be paid to the agent if CGT needs to be looked at , so if its a second home and you've had it 10 years yes it has to be paid, you have to agree to pay it before you even know if your liable to pay anything

Thats a very interesting article and I am going to forward it to the Notaire as we haven't agreed to pay it yet, thanks

[mona]

miss babs, thanks for that.  i'm not surprised you're pretty fed up about this. 

i don't know how long you had owned your property and clearly i'm stating the obvious but it's a brilliant ruse, getting money for old rope if you're selling having owned a property for 10 or more years when CGT does not apply, allegedly!

[woolybananasbrother]

actually it is fifteen years

 

[woolybananasbrother]

if you refuse to pay it they will impound your money until the tax office is happy the right sum has been paid. which may take a little while.

[ams]

We sold a property about a year ago and were confronted with the same demands. I went to the tax office showed them my computation for CGT they agreed with it and I got them to put their stamp to my computations. I brought this to the notaires office and had no problems and no additional costs.

 

ams

[mona]

Sorry, I stand corrected about the length of time before CGT is no longer applicable but the principle is the same i think

[Babbles]

My understanding is that now it has to be presentd by a fiscale agent, although the rule came in 2 years ago to what was allowed in the calculation it seems to have bits added to it at regular intervals so its almost impossible to keep up to date with what should be included.

The starting point is purely the buying and selling price, nothing else is considered as to whether it has to be sent to a fiscale agent, it seems that unless you actually sold it for less than you bought it for excluding agents and Notaires fees that the calculation has to be made therefore the fee paid, and as a side line they do not make it easy even to proving that you pay tax in the UK, even giving them the last 2 self assessments is not enough, the problem is that although they are "experts" in calculating tax they have no idea what UK forms and statements are about.

They can only hold onto the amount of money you disagree about not the balance, so I've been told ,but I've not put that into practice yet

[Panda]

Hello

As has been pointed out this is not charged only to non French but to non french residents, I didn't have to pay when I sold a second home because I am a Brit but fiscally resident in France.

Panda