Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

Hi, I'm new to this forum and would love to pick the brains of some of you learned people on here.
Me and my husband are looking at buying a bed and breakfast in France and would like some advice/thoughts on the pros and cons of doing this whilst the uk is now coming out of Europe.
The place we are considering is currently not registered as a business as only 4 rooms are let out and the lady selling it just declares income on her tax return. Is it best to continue doing this if we were to purchase the property? And equally how difficult do you think it will be for us to make the move which would probably be next year.
My other question is regarding healthcare. I don't have any regular medication but my husband does. He is currently on thyroid and high blood pressure tablets. Advice on how the healthcare system works with regular medication like this would be useful.

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

Hello bunnysue, and welcome to the forum!

As regards what effect Brexit might have on anything, well you need a crystal ball for that one.

As regards what your options are for taxation and how to access state healthcare: the answers to both these things will depend on your individual circumstances. How much income do you expect to make from the b&b? What other income do you have? Have either of you reached retirement age and started collecting your state pension?

Once you have been accepted for state healthcare, either via paying cotisations through your business activity or some other route, then medication and treatment for many chronic conditions is free at the point of delivery. There is a list which you will find if you google but hopefully another poster will know if thyroid and high blood pressure are on the list.

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

Thankyou for that. My husband will be able to claim state pension in 8 years and for me it will be 10. In the meantime we hope to earn enough from the B & b , but obviously we need to assess this properly. We will have a bit of collateral left once our property is sold, but these are all things we are trying to do our homework on. I also have several hobbies which have helped to generate income in the past so also something which we can consider.

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

If it's going to be your main or only income I don't think you have the option, I think you have to set it up as a business and this will then become your route to healthcare, through paying social security contributions on the income it generates. Do the sums carefully because cotisations will take quite a chunk out of it, then there's property taxes, probably healthcare top-up insurance, utilities etc etc, living in France isn't particularly cheap. A lot depends on the area and what clients you're targeting, will you get guests all year round or just in the holiday season which in many parts of France is quite short? What part of France are you looking in?

A word of warning on the hobby businesses - there are very limited opportunities for earning any income without registering your activity and paying cotisations. You can't advertise or sell without a siret number (business registration number). France is a lot stricter that way than the UK is.

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

I know someone who rents out a room in her house. She declares it as micro-entreprise and pays whatever the percentage is. You have to be careful that it doesn't go over the income allowance for a service business and you cannot claim expenses.

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

https://www.pratique.fr/affections-longue-duree.html
Voil� !
I'm no doctor, but it seems that thyroid isn't considered an ALD, nor high blood pressure as such. If the latter is associated with an ALD, the Médecin Traitant might mark up the pills for 100% reimbursement (= nothing to pay up-front). In any case, it's the Médecin Traitant who decides when writing up the prescription.
If neither is considered an ALD, then it would be advisable to take out a Mutuelle (top-up insurance) for reimbursement of the 30% that the Social Security doesn't reimburse.
(I'm quite well versed in ALDs, as OH is presently suffering from a couple!:()

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

I thought chambre d'hôtes was categorised as commercial not services (ie 82 800€ turnover ceiling and 13,1% cotisations)
I agree micro would probably be the simplest option if one of them is doing everything but if they are doing the work together, ie conjoint collaborateur, it gets a bit more complicated.

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

It would be very advisable whether it's an ALD or not the complications of both could produce bills to pay without Mutuelle cover.

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

True, a single room in a hospital, for example....

Re: Moving to France to run b &b and healthcare
 

Transfer between hospitals will see off a reasonable sum if you have no Mutuelle and if you live over 80 to 90 kms from a city then you will quite feasibly go through a small hospital first in the case of a trip to urgencies.

Even healthy people can get ill quickly so if you have a pre diagnosed condition then I cannot stress enough how you need to get the correct cover in advance. Healthcare costs can mount up quickly.