Novocastrian

OK. Spellcheck malfunction.

Pondlife

Yep, she's more British than I am...

Pondlife

I've managed to pay as little as I can in the UK being Self Employed and putting everything from wife and dogs to loo roll and gym off to tax. I fear those days are short lived now I'll be relocating.

One of my friends who is doing similar work as myself has his money paid into offshore pre-paid credit cards. Apparently it's almost impossible to trace. Even the UK PPCC you can have up to £25000 in them in Dollars, Euros or Pounds, and draw out £7500 a day on them. Very easy to take money across international borders. Not that ever would

EuroTrash

Hmm.
If you do turn out classed as resident in France and having to fill in a French tax form, you are required to declare all overseas bank accounts each year. Not what's in them, just the fact that they exist. Not sure if a pre-paid credit card account would count?
From memory the penalty for not declaring is a flat rate of 1500€ per undeclared account per year, plus the tax you should have paid and didn't, plus the fine. It soon mounts up.
They'd need to be guaranteed impossible to trace before I risked it, never mind almost impossible to trace.

Pondlife

I agree.
My friend doesn't actually live anywhere. He spends a month at work and then the company pays for a flight for him to go anywhere in the world as long as the cost is the same as going back to the UK - any more and he has to pay the difference.
he then spend 4 weeks in which ever country he chooses and literally spends all his money on enjoying himself and then returns to work. He carries Euro, $ and £ PPCC and some loose change in a bizarre range or currencies. I don't think he's ever heard of a tax man, when I've asked him about it he looks at me like I'm mad - which I probably am compared to his lifestyle.
Oh what it must be like to be young.

InVinoVeritas

Pondlife, I think you may have solved a little conundrum here. Some time ago someone in France (Pau I think) was fined €1,500 for having an undeclared PayPal account. Everyone was a little surprised and wondered if all French PayPal customers would get a similar fine. If it turns out he had a pre-paid PayPal credit card then this would make more sense.

Anyhow as ET says this would have to be no-risk to be worth doing as the fines would seriously mount up over the 10-odd years that the fisc are allowed to go back.

EuroTrash

Re the PayPal thing, I did read last year that if it's a business PayPal account you have to declare it, if it's a personal PayPayl account you don't. But the pre-paid thing could be a different issue.