Quickenberg

Hi

Planning, researching, reading, surfing etc etc to make a move to France soon.
I would be very grateful for any responses to the following questions-

Does renting a property in the uk, and, having that as sole income count as self-employed?
Would that qualify for health contributions to which I would top up?

Many thanks

Quikenberg

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
I stand to be corrected, but think the answer would be NO. You'd be considered as "inactif" and would need to take out private healthcare insurance from Day 1, until you're eligible to enter the French healthcare System (after 3 months' residency). You'd need to prove this private insurance (in addition to adequate income) when applying for Résidence. Take a look at the last thread in the Read-Me: Moving to France FAQs above (posted today!) which includes two links which another member gave in a recent thread. You choose which private insurance coverage suits you at the beginning, but once in the French System, it's advisable, but not compulsory, to take out a Mutuelle (top-up). Even if you're fit and healthy now, accidents happen all the time....
Your income from your rents in 2018 will have to be declared to the Tax Office in 2019.
HTH

Quickenberg

Hi dmu

Thanks for your answer.
Health is the bit -one of the bits- I am finding quite a puzzle at the moment.
I am registered as self employed here in the UK and at the moment my only income is from renting a property.
I would sell the house I am living in and buy outright a property in France and continue renting a house in the UK.

So. I would be able to enter French health system after only 3 months residency?


The initial health insurance from day one looks to be about £200 or so per month- just for myself.
So that would be paid for the first 3 months only?

Many thanks again

Quickenberg

Quickenberg

Hi dmu

just had a look at your post in FAQs - thanks for that.
I looked at the "inactif" section and am I right in thinking you can use the EHIC card for the 3 months or is Brexit
stopping that option?

cheers
Quickenberg

dmu

Sorry, you'll have to wait for someone more in the know to answer that. I don't believe Residency and PUMa are automatic and if the Authorities refuse your application for some reason or other (e.g. not enough income), you'll need private healthcare insurance for longer until you sort yourself out.
That someone will also know whether it's necessary/possible to set up a business in France to rent out property in the UK. There are several business structures in France which correspond to the ambiguous English status of "self-employed".
Sorry I'm not being much help!

dmu

Sorry (again!), I didn't see this post. The EHIC can be used if you need medical attention, BUT it isn't valid to prove healthcare insurance for Residency purposes, since it's only used by Tourists who are resident in the country which issues it....

EuroTrash

Where did you get £200 from?

As DMU says - only income earned through a registered business structure in France, through which you're paying social security contributions, qualifies you for healthcare. On your tax form your UK rental income will be declared separately and treated as "unearned" foreign income.

As an EU inactif, provided you meet the criteria for legal residence (minimum income etc) you can apply to join PUMA after 3 months' continuous residence in France.

Whether or not your EHIC card will cover you for those 3 months is a moot point. On paper it looks as if technically it shouldn't but in fact it does seem to be accepted. However, PUMA applications can take many months to process and personally I wouldn't rely on it. You won't know whether it will work or not until you try, and if you have expensive treatment and try to claim it on your EHIC and get knocked back, you'll wish you'd made other arrangements.

As to whether it's possible to set up a French business to be a UK landlord, I very much doubt it because UK rental income is taxable in the UK, and it would be a very odd French business that didn't earn any income that was taxable in France. Even if it was possible I don't think you would want to do it, because if you declare it as "unearned" foreign income your health contributions will be calculated at around 8% of that income after the first 10 000€ or whatever the allowance is and if you declare it as income earned through a French business you will pay approx 17% of your total turnover. I'd rather pay 8% on some of it than 17% on all of it, wouldn't you? Though of course the 17% might also include pension contributions depending on level of income. And then there's the question of social charges which I haven't kept up to date with, from what I gather they keep changing whether it's classed as a "tax" and therefore covered by the DTA or whether it's not, maybe someone else knows about social charges?
.

Quickenberg

Hi EuroTrash

Does the £200 sound wrong. I think it was on another website re French living, can't remember which.
Is that too much or not enough?

I can see now that UK landlord arrangement would seem odd as self employed in France.

Many thanks

Quickenberg

Quickenberg

Hi dmu

Having trouble posting my replies at the moment for some reason...

Thanks again for your replies.

Quickenberg

Quickenberg

Hi Eurotrash

What is the approx amount roughly per month for health insurance I could be expected to pay whilst waiting for residency application for PUMa?

Cheers
Many thanks
quickenberg

EuroTrash

Well you would have to contact health insurance providers and get quotes, there are plenty of companies you can try. I suspect that if you want a month by month arrangement it will be significantly more expensive than if you bite the bullet and take out an annual policy. £200 a month would work out at around 3 000€ a year which sounds over the odds to me. But for private health insurance the premium will depend on various factors including your age and also on your medical history so it's not really possible to give a ballpark figure. An older person with a number of health conditions could easily pay double what a young fit person would pay.

PS Anecdotally it can take up to 12 months or even more to get your PUMA application approved. In theory, once it's approved your cover is supposed to be backdated to the date you made the application and you can claim reimbursements retrospectively, but for various reasons I wouldn't rely on this (for one thing you won't have any "top up" during that period so would only get 70% back in most cases; for another thing, applications have been known to get lost; and then, what if it's refused?).

Quickenberg

So £200 per month possible at the top end of things.
I will have to get some quotes sorted out.

Thank you again

Quickenberg

EuroTrash

Does that mean you're young and fit ?
Whereabouts in France did you say you are going to be based ?

Quickenberg

'Does that mean you're young and fit '

Ha ha, well.....not young- 57- but pretty fit-cycling, walking and rowing etc.
Looking at Brittany, Normandy.

Just having a look at some quotes now....see what come up.

Quickenberg

just £326 per month from 1 company- yikes...!