Social Security, Social Charges etc

[Scooter]

Hi

I have been living in France for a year and working for a UK company.  Half my time is in London and the other half is in France working via the company intranet.

I applied to Newcastle for a working E106 to be told I cannot have one an also I need to get my employer to write to them so they can back pay my employer and my personal National Insurance charges for the last year as I cannot remain paying NI.

They also say that I have to join the French Social Security system - I phoned them and then emailed them to ask for advice and have heard nothing.

The problem I have is that my employer told me initially that they would not pay French Social Security charges and for me to continue to work I must stay paying UK tax and national insurance.  Tax is fine but the NI seems to be a problem.

Has anyone else had a similar problem and been able to overcome it - I need to continue to work, the arrangement I have suits work and me but it looks like I have hit a massive problem that could blow it all apart.

Thanks for anyone's help who replies.[8-)]

[Will]

The problem is you have to be in one place or the other. Unless you are a special case like a seafarer, an offshore oil and gas worker, or a civil servant the system(s) cannot cope with you. Tax, as you say, is far less a problem than affiliating to, and paying into, the relevant social security system. With the current French health system changes it is likely to get even more difficult in that respect as the French authorities have to guard against the probability of people using spurious part-time 'work' to gain affiliation.

I have worked in similar situations - it's pointless my giving you specific advice as people's personal, and work, situations are so different and I am far from an expert. But I would guess that unless the amount of time you spend working in France is very small you would need to properly affiliate to the French system as a self-employed worker on contract to your British employer - doing it that way round creates few, if any, obstacles to you spending time in England, whereas doing it the other way round can, as you find, be problematic.

The one specific piece of advice I would give, based on my own experiences and those of others I have known, is to find a good accountant with a comprehensive knowledge of the French tax and social security systems and at least a working knowledge of the British systems. This will probably - but not necessarily - be a France-based practice but with English-speaking partners or staff. Most of those which advertise in the glossies tend to be geared to people retiring overseas rather than working and do not have the breadth of expertise - plus in some cases their fees can be ridiculously high. It's vital to get this set up right, doing nothing, or going down the wrong route, can be very costly in all respects.

Edit - one other specific. See if your employer, and HMRC/DWP, are willing to let you work on assigment overseas under an E101. This will give you one year, possibly two, to make your own arrangements (or decide it can't be done - as the E101 is 'temporary' it won't suit if you have declared your intention to work in France permanently). But as you say you have already been in France for a year without getting sorted out this method may well be refused too.

[Scooter]

Thanks so much for getting back to me quickly.  It is a nightmare and as you say I do need good advice.  In the meantime I am still paying into NI because they haven't stopped me and the French SS haven't replied to me!!

Lets just hope I dont get ill..........will keep trying.

Carole