Contribution a l'audiovisuel

[Feichter]

Hi all,

We are resident in the UK and have owned a property in France for 10 years now.

Every year in the spring we get a letter from the french tax authoroties asking us to confirm that we are resident in the UK and therefore we would not be paying the taxe audiovisuel. This was the case for a few years. However, last year and this year, the taxe audiovisuel has reappeared on our avis d'impot even though we have sent the letter in the spring.

Has anyone else experienced the same? What can we do about this?

Many thanks for your replies...

[YCCMB]

I think you are under the misconception that being "resident in the UK" absolves you from paying the redevance for a TV licence. The letter you receive is not asking you to confirm you're a UK resident, it's asking you to confirm that you don't have a TV or other device for receiving television. It doesn't matter where you're normally resident, if you have a TV (even if you don't watch French TV programmes) you need to pay for the licence.

If, indeed, you don't have a TV and have been billed for the licence, pop along to your local Trésor Public and have a chat with them.

[Clair]

Betty is right.

The payment (or non-payment) of the redevance is not linked to your usual residence, but the ownership of a device (whichever form it takes) allowing you to watch or receive TV programs.

That's all the Trésor Public people are concerned with.

The redevance is automatically included in the TH (taxe d'habitation) form, unless the owner has ticked the no-TV-here box on his/her income tax declaration.

I suspect from your post that you do not complete one of those, therefore the redevance is automatically added...

[YCCMB]

Clair, we non-residents get a letter each year asking us to confirm we don't have a TV. That's how the fact we don't complete a tax form is overcome. Basically, if you DO have a TV (or whatever) you need do nothing, whereas if you don't, you must return the form as a declaration to say so.

[Frederick]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]Clair, we non-residents get a letter each year asking us to confirm we don't have a TV. That's how the fact we don't complete a tax form is overcome. Basically, if you DO have a TV (or whatever) you need do nothing, whereas if you don't, you must return the form as a declaration to say so.

[/quote]

Correct !    Do nothing you get the charge.... and they should do the same in the UK  IMO

[Clair]

Thanks for the clarification Betty and Frederick.

I don't have the time right now to revive the sample letter I produced a few years ago for those non-residents who do not have a TV to send to the relevant French admin...

I'll look for it in a bit and post a link...

[Gardengirl]

I've kept the letter from when we needed to use it - may save Clair some time:

Your Name(s)

Your Full Address

À (town), le (date)

Recommandé avec AR

Numéro fiscal (as shown on your tax bill)

Objet : Contestation de l'avis d'imposition

Madame, Monsieur,

Je viens de recevoir un avis de paiement de la taxe d'habitation et de la redevance audiovisuelle.

Or, je ne suis pas détenteur d'un appareil de télévision ou d'autre appareil assimilé à cette adresse.

Je vous serais reconnaissant de bien vouloir rectifier cette erreur et je me tiens à votre disposition pour toute information complémentaire dont vous auriez besoin.

Avec mes remerciements anticipés, je vous prie de croire, Madame, Monsieur, en l'assurance de mes respectueuses salutations.

(Signature)

[Clair]

Thank you, GardenGirl, for posting this.

The original thread which prompted me to offer the sample letter can be read HERE.

[DerekJ]

[quote user="Clair"]Thank you, GardenGirl, for posting this.

The original thread which prompted me to offer the sample letter can be read HERE.

[/quote]

Ah yes, I remember that thread Claire... worked well for me.