[Registration only takes a minute and is completely free, would you like to join now?]

Welcome to the France Forum

You are currently viewing as a guest but by registering with us you'll be able to take part in discussions, post new topics and use other features on the Lost in France website.
Registration only takes a minute and is completely free, would you like to join now?

well anyway, I have been scoring pretty solid with a penny stock picks company i subscribe to... and yesterday and again today they
mentioned MBYL and I have been thinking about grabbing up a bit of paper as I also actually found out some other interesting
interesting info about this company...

anybody here ever heard of them?

I'm sorry Paul, but where you have your money has no bearing at all on your residency.  DG, here is my standard advice on residency:                      Intriguingly, there are no set criteria to describe when a member of the European Community who comes to France becomes legally resident here. Non-Eu visitors are easier to deal with, as they require entry visas and have to apply for a Carte de Sejour, but we Brits are welcomed with open arms and often end up merging into the background without ever addressing this question.

In effect, the question is deferred to your tax status.  You become legally resident in France when you become tax resident here.  This is the legal definition of tax residency, according to article 4.B of the French General Tax Code (Code Général des Impôts); a taxpayer will acquire a domicile fiscal in France (residence for tax purposes):

a) If and when his foyer or home is in France, which includes where his main home is or where his family lives.

b) His principal place of residence is in France. He will have his principal place of residence if, for instance, he spends more than 183 days in France per year and he will be considered as French resident under this heading even if he spends less than 183 days per annum in France but has a permanent home available in France or is not resident for tax purposes in another country with a full double tax treaty with France and makes prolonged and regular visits to France even if for less than 183 days.
c) His business activities in France, whether salaried or otherwise, are managed from France unless he can show that this business activity is incidental to his main employment.

d) The centre of his economic interests is France, meaning that he has his main investments in France or they are managed from France or that he derives the majority of his income from French sources.

The crucial point here is that not all of these criteria have to be met.  Compliance with any one of these clauses renders you tax resident in France.  Put simply; ask yourself the question “Where do I live?” 

Thanks guys - We think there is mains sewerage on our road - our house was one of the first built in 1970s and so when we bought it we inherited the septic tank -  we have not seen tanks going in on the recent flurry of new houses being built! C'est la vie looks like the charge is correct. Presumably we do not have to proactively connect if we are happy with our tank? Do we just await an inspection/compliance check?

Hi
There are lots of horsey people in rural france, if she wants to compete, then she will need to make sure her horses are fully papered if she is competing to any decent level, (she will need to join the equivilant of the BSJA-but in France only full bred horses can be registered for this)or whatever body for the discipline she is competing in

If she is just looking to compete at a local level (no affiliation required) then all she needs to do is keep her eye on the local horsey press or ask at the mairie for horse clubs and she can then join and she will find that everyone is pretty friendly.  There are also clubs for hacking out, in France these are called randonees equestre, and can be a jolly 1/2 day jaunt or a whole weekend including camping.

Hi Jo, Paul is correct. As part of a nationwide initiative all households are required to connect to mains sewage where possible. We built a new house and were initially billed for waste treatment, even though we had already been refused connection by the inspector as it wasn't deemed feasible. We later received a bill for 150 euros for the compliance certificate.

Jo, in answer to your water charges problem: if the mains sewage passes your property then it is possible for you to connect to the mains and you will be charged for sewage whether or not you decide to connect your property. If there is no mains sewage passing your property then the charge is an error. In this case you need to do what I myself did, contact the water company, insist you have no mains sewage and if they do not believe you, again as happened to me, tell them to send someone to your property to verify. In my own case the previous owners had paid the sewage charges without realising and once the water inspector verified there was no sewage pipe passing the property the money paid by us was refunded. Hope this helps.

Hi all
my sister is thinking of moving here (Charente or Limousin) with her horse but as she is not french speaking is afraid that she will be isolated from like minded people and wont be able to get to know peope well enough to bother to do competitions etc so I wondered whether there might be a strong english speaking horse community in the region that she would be able to join in with until she learns the language.

any info much appreciated
loobles

At our end of the market (top-end chateaux etc, see www.classic-french-chateaux.co.uk) prices have already dropped by 30% since their peak in December 2007. They have been flat for the last year or so (the rapid drop occurred in Qs 3&4 of 2008), and are now showing signs of picking up - although don't expect any meteoric rise for the next few years!

As with my good friend Trevor, I was so frustrated by French estate agents that I too started my own agency (www.classic-french-homes.com and www.classic-french-chateaux.co.uk  - unlike Trevor, our aim is to be small and specialised, concentrating entirely on prestige properties for sale in Aquitaine. To be fair to the French, their business model reflects what the market deems to work - but what works for the inexperienced French vendor and local French buyer does not necessarily work for the international buyer whose expectations and needs are very different. Hence, I suppose, why our businesses thrive despite difficult times for the property market generally!

We have a chalet in Samoens, dept 74 with water supplied by Lyonnaise des Eaux. Despite having a septic tank and not being connected to the mains drainage we continue to be billed for the collection and treatment of water - "collecte et traitement des eaux usees". Coincidentally we also have a septic tank in England where we pay for the distribution of water but are exempt from the collection and treatment element. We would like to think that the same principle operates in France but have been unable to get confirmation of this.

Does anyone have any advice/similar experience/pearls of wisdom? Thanks