Warn me about the downside of moving to France

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martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

Gus Morris wrote:
I would advise caution in the current political climate. If Catalonia becomes unstable it may impact us all.

Gus
Would you care to expand on how? Apart, possibly, from slightly more difficult access to slightly cheaper booze and fags. Catalonia was involved in a full-scale Civil War within living memory, with real guns. But I doubt that it much affected the property market, or most people’s living standards, down here.
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Post by SteveB »

I don't know about the property market, but I gather that the Spanish Civil War led to a lot of people from Spanish Catalonia crossing the border into France, both during the war and after, as Catalonia was strongly Republican and was subsequently punished by Franco. Because of this there is a substantial Spanish minority in Perpignan and around.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »


Corinna
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Post by Corinna »

We have done a bit more research now.

What we found is a dealbreaker for us are the extreme amount of taxes and contributions. They are massively higher then in the Uk and we would need to earn almost double as much as we do now to get to the same standard of livng as we have now (not a lavish standard by any description).

We asked so many people about the down-sides of France and feel quite surprised that nobody warned us about this. (We always knew that taxes are somewhat higher in France but not this extreme amount.)

For us, for now, the dream of living and working in France is over. :(

If we see this wrong, let us know - there is still sliver of hope.
best,
Corinnna
martyn94
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martyn94
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Corinna
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Post by Corinna »

Hi Martyn
thank you so much for writing all this. It changes the picture a lot :lol:

No, we do not seem to understand the income tax as it is applied to couples. We had the impression that it punishes the lower earning partner by making both pay tax at the higher rate. If that is not the case. do you know how that works?

My husband has finished work and would only earn a minimum if any.

Also, I have virutallly no expenses in my line of work. Do you think they would also allow me to deduct 10 % ?
best,
Corinnna
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »


Allan
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Post by Allan »

Corinna,

Martyn gives really good advice but it is just barmy that you should base such an important decision on information gleaned in forums or retrieved from the internet.

You should speak to an Anglo-French accountant and get some proper advice based on actual numbers.

I don’t think it will cost you a fortune and could help you make your decision in an informed manner.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

Allan wrote:Corinna,

Martyn gives really good advice but it is just barmy that you should base such an important decision on information gleaned in forums or retrieved from the internet.

You should speak to an Anglo-French accountant and get some proper advice based on actual numbers.

I don’t think it will cost you a fortune and could help you make your decision in an informed manner.
I said that ages ago. But I don’t have a name of an accountant to recommend: my affairs are sufficiently simple that I have not quite needed one. And in any event, I was already committed here: there was no decision to make. No high street accountant in the UK is enough of a nerd (in this particular field) to be worth bothering with. So who does she use?
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Post by Allan »

Try http://transmanche-accountancyservices.eu/

I agree most UK accountants don’t have a clue.
Corinna
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Post by Corinna »

Thanks again, Martyn, your help is much appreciated.

So this means that with an income of 50 000 both spouses pay tax on 25 000, for example? That would make such a big difference.

One more question about healthcare: I have read that you pay 8 % of your taxable income to PUMA. What would a spouse pay who has no income? Do you know?

Alan, no worries, we are not going to base our decision on the conversations here. We are using the forum just as a beginning point for further investigations.

But it is really hard to get reliable information and I certainly do not want a rude awakening once we bought a French house and burnt all bridges here in the UK.

Anglo-french accountant? I did not even know such a thing existed. Any idea where I would find someone like that?
best,
Corinnna
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Post by Corinna »

thanks, Allan, our post have crossed
best,
Corinnna
martyn94
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Gus Morris
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Post by Gus Morris »

From what I can see, for a quick, anonymous and cost free estimate of how your tax liability would be under current conditions you might do worse than running the figures through

https://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail/simulateurs

Gus
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »


Webdoc
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Post by Webdoc »

martyn94 wrote:Corinna’s position is, so far, entirely hypothetical:
One significant hypothetical aspect is that she doesn't have experience of living here and doesn't know if she'd like it.

The members of this forum are, almost by definition, the select bunch who love it here.

Although the financial aspects are far from trivial I would compare it to parenthood. There is absolutely no financial argument in favour of having children but those who do (and suffer the loss of money and independence that parenthood brings) would, almost universally, say that it's the best thing they ever did.

I rather feel that renting for a year might be the answer and, if like me, they fall in love with the place they are in a good position to find their forever-home.
martyn94
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russell
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Post by russell »

You could do worse than to download Blevins Franks' French Tax Guide:

https://www.blevinsfranks.com/download/tax-guides

Russell
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »


jethro
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Post by jethro »

This is two years old, but largely still relevant.

http://www.englishinformerinfrance.com/ ... e-Tax-2015
an' the wun' cried Mary.
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Post by jethro »

This is two years old, but still largely relevant.

http://www.englishinformerinfrance.com/ ... e-Tax-2015
an' the wun' cried Mary.
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Post by jethro »

As is this, but it requires a modicum of French. Basically, it says that if you have a Form S1, which means that ultimately Britain pays your medical expenses, you don't have to pay the whole Social Charge, which Macron has increased and put largely on the backs of the wealthy retired people.

http://leparticulier.lefigaro.fr/jcms/p ... -de-la-csg
an' the wun' cried Mary.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

jethro wrote:As is this, but it requires a modicum of French. Basically, it says that if you have a Form S1, which means that ultimately Britain pays your medical expenses, you don't have to pay the whole Social Charge, which Macron has increased and put largely on the backs of the wealthy retired people.

http://leparticulier.lefigaro.fr/jcms/p ... -de-la-csg
This and your earlier post are well meant, but the links they pointed to contain fairly random bits of information. The piece about tax formalities is not particularly useful to someone not yet living here (though the possibility of double taxation relief claims may or may not be relevant to them in future). And the stuff about CSG even less so: it seems impossible to believe that Corinna and her husband have any past CSG to claim back, and we have no particular reason to think that they will have any significant income eligible for CSG exemption in the future.

I think that this reinforces Allan’s point about not relying on snippets of information from the internet: even if they are accurate, and you interpret them correctly, they do not necessarily give a complete picture for you. For us to give useful advice, Corinna would have to give us the most exhaustive details of her and her husband’s income and finances. Even if she were mad enough to give it, I don’t want to have it. And if I did have it, my advice would be lousy anyway, especially when it raised issues falling outside my own very simple affairs. This is a job for professionals.
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Post by NigelS »

Hi everyone, so much good information - I thank you all VERY much!!

Basically, the address Alan gave us has hit the jackpot - for 100 Euros we can get a rough tax calculatiion and when we move these people can help us register the business and do all sorts of wonderful things for us. Their fees seem very reasonable.

Today we are in the Ariege and tomorrow we will be spending 2 days in the P.O. I have been dozens of times in France throughout my life and now I am looking at the country through the lenses of our new home. I am liking it!!

We got lost in the woods today and arrived wet and cold in a dark Sieux. We went into a cafe asking for a number for a taxi. The landlord immediately offered to drive us to our car that was 3 km away. So much kindness! A good omen?
Webdoc
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Post by Webdoc »

Sorry to be a bore and repeat myself but there's a huge premium weather-wise of being near the Med, especially in the winter.

There's a good web page here to compare the weather of two towns - try Foix and Ceret:

http://www.meteofrance.com/climat/comparateur
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Post by Florence »

I suppose it´s OK if you´ve got the money to pay a company to do all that for you. When we can here, there were no forums or anything. I found it quite simple to register my husband´s micro, the tax office were very helpfull and all the other paperwork URSAFF, etc was quite straightforward. I had to do a 4 day course at the chambre de metiers where they explained how to run a business in France with lots of advice on what to do and what not to do.
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Post by Richard and Sharon »

Webdoc is bang on about the weather by the Med, it was one of the priorites for us. Be careful of the weather comparison site, it is a bit "broad brush", for example the beach resort of Ageles and the Ski resort of Mont Louis both use Perpignan weather stats.
Not much I can contribute here in comparison to you long termers. Good job!
I am in England today (back in PO on Wednesday) and yesterday enjoyed the simple pleasure of cheese beano made with extra mature cheddar melted over Heinz beans on doorstep toast. Just as well the choice of food in french shops is fantastic, especially fresh produce, fish, cheeses and bread, because a proper cheese beano would cost way over its worth to make in France.
martyn94
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martyn94
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