Paperwork for new expat?
 

My husband and I have recently bought a house and moved to the languedoc.
we are both self employed in the UK. Can anyone please tell me what and where we have to register with? (for tax things)
We paid the outstanding proportion of taxes (fonciere and d'habitation) when we moved in and I understand there is another one due in february?
do we have to register anywhere to make sure or is it automotic through the notaire?
I just want to make sure we have told the right people we are here so it's all present and correct!
Thanks in advance:D

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

Hi
I had this amongst all my info for moving to France - hope it answers your query. I also think the notaire will have automatically registered you but the others on here are far more knowledgeable than I so should be able to help.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Taxe d'Habitation and Taxe Foncieres are both local authority residence Taxes similar to the UK Council Tax which are paid annually though there is provision to pay monthly by RIB (direct debit) from your bank account. Both the Taxe d'Habitation and the Taxe Foncieres bills usually arrive in August & September and are due for payment in October & November.


Taxe Foncieres
This is the land and property tax, it is only payable by the owner of the property and is payable by whoever owned the property on the 1st of January each year - so if for example you purchased a French property in February you may not receive the Taxe d'Habitation bill until the following year. If you are renting a property in France you are not liable to pay this Tax. The Taxe Foncieres is based on the rental value of the property as assumed by the local authority. Some new or newly restored properties are exempt from paying the Taxe Foncieres for the first two years.



Taxe d'Habitation
The Taxe d'Habitation is paid by the the person occupying the property and is levied by the commune in which you live against whoever was living in the property on the 1st of January of each year. The Taxe d'Habitation is calculated by the floor area of the property, number of windows and location of the property. If you are on a very low income your Taxe d'Habitation may be reduced or you may be exempt from paying it altogether.


Since 2005 the Taxe de habitation also includes the TV licence fee - if you are over 75 years of age you will not have to pay for a TV licence and so it will not be included in your Taxe d'Habitation bill.

If you are renting a property in France you will only be liable to pay the Taxe d'Habitation, if you own and reside in a property in France you will be liable to pay both the Taxe d'Habitation and the Taxe Foncieres.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope the move has gone well and you're enjoying living in Languedoc.

Best wishes
Wendy

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

Since you have "moved to the Languedoc" this means that you are now residents in France. New laws mean you should go and register at your local Mairie, where you will be delivered a residence permit.
You are going to have to register with the "centre des Impots" also - and declare all your income, even if it is taxed in the UK, as Fench residents your worldwide income must be declared here. The Centre des Impots (Tax Office) will not send you a form to fill in, you have to go and get one yourself. Once you are in the system, they will be sent automatically. I know this sounds peculiar, you would have thought that since you already pay your taxe fonciere and taxe d'habitation, the inland revenue woule know you are here. But they don't. It will take a bit longer until all the different departments share information around and talk to each other, although they are meant to do that more and more.

You will also have to work out what kind of health cover you have. Do you have a E106 form, from Newcastle in the UK? This might be a tricky area if you haven't, since there are new rules about health cover and private health insurance for those who cannot join the French CMU through CPAM. Do go and enquire at your nearest CPAM (Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie)
CMU de base = couverture medicale universelle.

As French residents, you can no longer be covered by the NHS unless you have your E106, (which will last for 1 or 2 years) or an E121 (if you are in receipt of a state pension from the UK, or if you are in receipt of Long Term Incapacity Benefit).

If you were officially residents in France before 23 November 2007 and can prove you were, then you will be able to affiliate with the CMU - otherwise, without the 2 forms above (E106 or 121) you cannot enter the French system and must take private health insurance.

If you have a lot of question marks about any or all of the above, and if your Mairie is not too helpful, you could always visit your nearest CCAS (Centre Communal d'Action Sociale) where, in theory, there are social workers who know everything there is to know and can direct you to the relevant organisations.

For the moment this is all I can think of. Welcome to the Languedoc, it is a great and varied area.

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

Thank you so much for your help - greatly appreciated.
Are there any deadlines for these things - I have this heavy feeling all the time that I am late with something or will get into trouble.
Do I just go to the marie? I live in a big town so it is not obvious - would it be the hotel de ville?
Does there tend to be english speakers at the hotel des impots? I hate being one of those people who's first question is if anyone speaks english, but all this really tricky technical paperwork stuff all comes at the the begining and my language is nowhere near good enough yet!
I've contacted DWP, too.
To be honest, I'm finding it all a bit daunting, so thanks for your help.

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

You could try the Hotel de Ville first, go to the Accueil, and explain that
"Je suis nouveau resident en France, qu'est-ce-que je dois faire?" - they can be extremely helpful.
Yes it is daunting, and there is no end of paperwork and sometimes you go around in circles. But everyone in France is used to that, so it is expected that many things are not straighforward and in the end, nobody worries too much about it. You will get there in the end - it is all part and parcel of getting to know your new area, and your new life. You will be learning a lot in the process, and eventually it will all be alright. It is all part of the adventure.

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

Thank you for that - I will go there and ask.
Do you have to register within a certain time of being here or can you get fined?

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

Nah, you will not get fined!!! One thing to always remember about France is that on the one hand, there is "en theorie", and on the other, there is "en pratique". Especially since it is relatively new, this obligation to "register". It might even be that in some of the smaller places, the mairies don't even know about it, or know what they are supposed to do!
I would imagine that some people don't even bother to do it. But it might be helpful to do so, as you will be beginning to learn about everything, and it is a good place to ask questions.

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

Thank you - I would like to be able to keep you in my pocket for times of need!! I really appreciate your advice.

So, I've contacted DWP and they are getting back to me with yes or no for workers E106 (we have an EHIC, but I don't think we can use it?!?). My husband has medicine on prescription which is costing us €45 a week, but I have just been paying for it and keeping the paperwork.

I'll go the the reception at the Hotel de Ville and say hello to register.
Then, go to the Hotel des impots and do the same?

We've managed to get our english car insured here for a year, so at least that's not something to deal with all at the same time!

Do you register with a dentist?

I've joined a french speaking class, too, so hopefully that will help.

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

In theory (that word again) you can only use your EHIC (issued by the UK) if you are an UK resident. Once you are in the French system, (???) the International European Healthcard will be issued here in France. It would be best for you if you got your E106, as it will give you some time to see how things shape up for you in relation to affiliation to CMU once the E106 expires.
You are right to keep all the brown medical sheets (feuilles de soins) - if you get your E106 they will all be reimbursed by the UK.

Good luck, but don't be alarmed if things are slow and if there are obstacles. That is quite normal. Sorry I can't be in your pocket:D - true, I been there, done that, and have no problem whatsoever with the language - unfortunately it does NOT mean that no problems crop up....

Re: Paperwork for new expat?
 

Just a thought on car insurance in France. We found out that if we did not have a car insured in England for 2 years we lost our no-claims bonus in England, so we alternated who insured the car in France, ie one year my ex insured it in HIS name, the next year I did it in mine.

Don't know if this is still relevant, but when I got back to England and went to insure my English car, I was able to produce the French insurance certificate for our car over there and Admiral accepted it without trouble cos it was not more than 2 years old, and I got my full no-claims discount here again.

Good luck.

Andy