Back in Scotland
Aug 24th 2018, 8:07 pm
#16
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Re: Back in Scotland
I rent an automatic when I go back saves messing with a stick shift for a few weeks each year. Makes life much easier.
I do find the rental for an automatic is a bit more, and they need to be booked in advance the companies don’t seem to have many spare. That is my experience at Manchester Airport.
Aug 24th 2018, 11:22 pm
#17
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Joined: Oct 2016
Location: Scotland
Posts: 200
Re: Back in Scotland
between_two_worlds - thanks for your best wishes and for sharing your very similar story
Steerpike - we are very happy with our new automatic car. I’ve never named a car before and I’m seriously thinking of naming this one! It’s small although we were able to fit 5 adults in it without too much difficulty. It has a rear view camera which I’m very happy about - it will certainly help me with reversing. We’ve been down in Somerset and London seeing family and my university friend and there were no issues with the car at all.
It’s been a brilliant week. Last Friday my DH and I were at the Runrig concert in Stirling and yesterday my friend and I went to see Swan Lake in London performed by the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre. My DH was happy I had someone else to go with as ballet is not his thing!! He found a nice pub in London instead!
Still over-joyed at being back. On our drive to and from England I was loving it - driving through the Lake District, seeing the sheep, the cattle, the greenery! We even took a slight detour to drive by our first ever home in Hemel Hempstead.
The only change I need to make is to reduce the amount of food that I am eating!
Steerpike - we are very happy with our new automatic car. I’ve never named a car before and I’m seriously thinking of naming this one! It’s small although we were able to fit 5 adults in it without too much difficulty. It has a rear view camera which I’m very happy about - it will certainly help me with reversing. We’ve been down in Somerset and London seeing family and my university friend and there were no issues with the car at all.
It’s been a brilliant week. Last Friday my DH and I were at the Runrig concert in Stirling and yesterday my friend and I went to see Swan Lake in London performed by the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre. My DH was happy I had someone else to go with as ballet is not his thing!! He found a nice pub in London instead!
Still over-joyed at being back. On our drive to and from England I was loving it - driving through the Lake District, seeing the sheep, the cattle, the greenery! We even took a slight detour to drive by our first ever home in Hemel Hempstead.
The only change I need to make is to reduce the amount of food that I am eating!
Aug 25th 2018, 5:08 pm
#18
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Location: Back in the UK!
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Re: Back in Scotland
Just wondering what the financial requirements for your husband were in order to live in Europe?My husband would love to move away from the the U.S. he is a U.S citizen though. I am a U.K citizen but would not be able to meet the financial requirements for him to move to the U.K.
Aug 25th 2018, 5:15 pm
#19
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Re: Back in Scotland
Just wondering what the financial requirements for your husband were in order to live in Europe?My husband would love to move away from the the U.S. he is a U.S citizen though. I am a U.K citizen but would not be able to meet the financial requirements for him to move to the U.K.
Sorry morayeel, I've just read this properly (!thanks to Perth's more recent reply with mention of Ireland) and I see you must have been addressing the question to me because you said "Europe." I had thought you were asking about the spouse visa/financial requirements to bring a non-EU spouse to Britain—my fault, I didn't read it properly. I guess you are asking about the time in France?
As I said, it was for his last three years of work, and he was seconded from the US branch of his company, so the company arranged the residence permit based on his work.
As for retired US citizens, I do know that they can't live in France for more than three months without paying some sort of large tax....
Aug 26th 2018, 8:14 am
#20
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Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Europe (to be specified).
Posts: 30,259
Re: Back in Scotland
Sorry morayeel, I've just read this properly (!thanks to Perth's more recent reply with mention of Ireland) and I see you must have been addressing the question to me because you said "Europe." I had thought you were asking about the spouse visa/financial requirements to bring a non-EU spouse to Britain—my fault, I didn't read it properly. I guess you are asking about the time in France?
As I said, it was for his last three years of work, and he was seconded from the US branch of his company, so the company arranged the residence permit based on his work.
As for retired US citizens, I do know that they can't live in France for more than three months without paying some sort of large tax....
As I said, it was for his last three years of work, and he was seconded from the US branch of his company, so the company arranged the residence permit based on his work.
As for retired US citizens, I do know that they can't live in France for more than three months without paying some sort of large tax....
What sort of large tax? 3rd country citizens living in France need to have a carte de séjour and will pay taxes on the same basis as French citizens. Being a USC is irrelevant except for the annoyance of having to file a US tax rerun in addition.
Aug 27th 2018, 3:35 pm
#21
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Re: Back in Scotland
Perhaps I've been misinformed—I know a retired American couple who spend three months a year in France and not longer, because they said if they stayed any longer they'd have to pay taxes. I guess this is simply the same three-month rule that applies in many countries (six months in some places) for visitors.
Aug 27th 2018, 4:25 pm
#22
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Re: Back in Scotland
Perhaps I've been misinformed—I know a retired American couple who spend three months a year in France and not longer, because they said if they stayed any longer they'd have to pay taxes. I guess this is simply the same three-month rule that applies in many countries (six months in some places) for visitors.
Aug 27th 2018, 4:35 pm
#23
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Re: Back in Scotland
My guess is - you are both talking about the same thing - a tax. To an American, the tax is 'large' and does not apply if you stay 3 months or less. To a local French person, the tax is 'normal'. If you can avoid it by staying 3 months or less, that seems appropriate. But if you stay longer than 3 months, then you'd better think like a local and pay the high taxes! Isn't there a similar rule in UK? I have a friend in UK who has a good deal of money and he's taken up residence in Portugal for 'tax purposes'. He can only return to England for a limited number of months before having to pay UK taxes. It's a 'huge tax' to him, so he avoids it because he can. But he has paid that same tax for decades while he was a resident.
The residency rules in the U.K. have changed since we retired in the USA and used to spend a lot of time there. Back then it was more than 6 months in any one year or the rolling 4 year average was more than 90 days would make a person tax resident in the UK.
I have a cousin here in England who, with her husband, own a house in France and they make sure they don’t overstay there and become tax resident. Not because France taxes foreigners more than their own residents but because their taxes happen to be higher than the UK.
Aug 27th 2018, 4:37 pm
#24
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Re: Back in Scotland
My guess is - you are both talking about the same thing - a tax. To an American, the tax is 'large' and does not apply if you stay 3 months or less. To a local French person, the tax is 'normal'. If you can avoid it by staying 3 months or less, that seems appropriate. But if you stay longer than 3 months, then you'd better think like a local and pay the high taxes! Isn't there a similar rule in UK? I have a friend in UK who has a good deal of money and he's taken up residence in Portugal for 'tax purposes'. He can only return to England for a limited number of months before having to pay UK taxes. It's a 'huge tax' to him, so he avoids it because he can. But he has paid that same tax for decades while he was a resident.
morayeel was asking about financial requirements for a USC living in Europe, and asked me because I said we lived there. But we were on a work arrangement done by employer.
For other USCs wanting to live in Europe, there will be the same requirements as in UK—pay taxes once you are living there a certain amount of time per year; but maybe that amount of time varies from country to country?
Aug 27th 2018, 4:51 pm
#25
Born again atheist
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Europe (to be specified).
Posts: 30,259
Re: Back in Scotland
Exactly!
The residency rules in the U.K. have changed since we retired in the USA and used to spend a lot of time there. Back then it was more than 6 months in any one year or the rolling 4 year average was more than 90 days would make a person tax resident in the UK.
I have a cousin here in England who, with her husband, own a house in France and they make sure they don’t overstay there and become tax resident. Not because France taxes foreigners more than their own residents but because their taxes happen to be higher than the UK.
Aug 27th 2018, 4:52 pm
#26
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Re: Back in Scotland
Thanks for filling in the specifics, that explains to me how they manage to spend so much time there.
Sep 2nd 2018, 5:00 pm
#27
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Re: Back in Scotland
Sorry Caroline. I just realised in my last message that I did not congratulate you on your return! Been here 18 months now but your enthusiasm reminds me of myself when we first got here. My husband got such a kick out of my ooooos and aaaahhh, at anything from baby lambs in the field to a proper scone! May the honeymoon never end.
Sep 3rd 2018, 10:28 am
#28
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Re: Back in Scotland
Perth - many thanks for your best wishes. Not sure I would have ever appreciated Scotland this much if I had never left. Just love being back. Going on a bus, doing grocery shopping, watching TV (The Bodyguard- wow!), driving through the countryside, mail being delivered to your home, long daily walks along the beach regardless of the weather, the Sunday Times (which seems to take me until Tuesday to finish!) - loving all of it.
Sep 3rd 2018, 11:02 am
#29
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Re: Back in Scotland
Perth - many thanks for your best wishes. Not sure I would have ever appreciated Scotland this much if I had never left. Just love being back. Going on a bus, doing grocery shopping, watching TV (The Bodyguard- wow!), driving through the countryside, mail being delivered to your home, long daily walks along the beach regardless of the weather, the Sunday Times (which seems to take me until Tuesday to finish!) - loving all of it.