Re: Taxes
 

FIFY. :lol:

Re: Taxes
 

good point. Should've at least used the "sarcasm" warning....

seriously though, I knew a couple of well-off Danish families who lived in France to reduce their tax burden.

Re: Taxes
 

I can't quite believe the OP suggested separation or divorce as a means of mitigating a possible tax burden. That really does beggar belief and highlights their priorities.

Why don't they move to the 5% tax country with her husband and put the kids in private school there or in UK? Or perhaps the 5% tax place doesn't have good schools, or good police, or good infrastructure?

Re: Taxes
 

+1

Re the pretend separation, there have been precedents. I remember a case where a British couple claimed to be separated, in order to avoid taxation. Probably it used to work when the world was bigger, but these days it's not hard to establish exactly where each partner spent virtually day and night of the year, what money was spend jointly etc, so the only way to prove you're separated is if you are separated. They didn't get away with it, HMRC took them to the cleaners and the investigation must have been so painful you almost feel sorry for them (but not quite).

Re: Taxes
 

That's one way of looking at it. Another is that it reflects on how extremely high taxes and "social charges", aka "more taxes", are in some countries. It's not like she's talking about saving a few hundred pounds/euros, nor indeed breaking up her family, merely changing its legal basis.

When so many people these days place no importance on a sound legal underpinning to their relationship, surely divorcing for tax reasons shouldn't be that big a deal? :unsure:

There are also a lot of older people who have decided to not get married for pension/benefit reasons, who for much of their life probably looked down on "the younger generation, living in sin". I know one family friend myself, who formed a new relationship as she neared retirement age, and despite originally planning to get married ultimately has decided not to, more than a decade later, after she and her boyfriend decided the financial penalty was too high. .... And she's a "good" Catholic lady! :rofl: So anyway, I see no substantive difference between what she has (not) done and the OP's suggestion of divorcing for tax reasons. :unsure:

Re: Taxes
 

I don't get you.
The issue isn't whether you're married or not. The issue is, are you a household unit or not, and are you being honest your status or not. The OP is intending to continue being a household unit but claim not to be. That's what makes it fraud.

If they divorced for tax reasons and stayed apart because they were totally indifferent to each other and didn't want to be part of each others lives any more, fair enough. But now that hubbie has landed a high paying job, I somehow can't see the OP kicking him right out of her life.

It's kind of the opposite of being paid to go through a marriage ceremony with some whose life you don't intend to share so that they can get a visa - do you think that's acceptable?

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It's called "tax planning". :nod:
If those are the rules in France then that could be a problem. But if the OP's husband is going to be spending 46 weeks of the year (or more, if the family meets him for holidays outside of France) in a different country, claiming to be "not a family unit" isn't much of a stretch.

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Tax planning is fine until it becomes fraud. Misrepresenting your circumstances is fraud as far as the taxman is concerned. I'm sure they investigate lots of cases like this and have a nose for it.

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The OP would have to complete a tax return and declare total family income including overseas.
If the figures on the return do not add up or seem strange to the fisc then they will investigate including bank accounts, property etc.
Lying on the tax return is a criminal offence.
That is called fraud

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I am sure you're correct, and more power to them if the French have enacted tax legislation to catch couples shacking up and tax them on the same basis as if they were married! :)
I understand that - I was replying to Eurotrash and hadn't seen your post. I would assume that the tax inspectors would want to know who was funding the OP if she was claiming to be a signle parent.

Re: Taxes
 

For the OP.

Taken from the following site:

Income Tax France: French Income Tax Rates

"In practice, less than 50% of inhabitants in France pay any income tax at all; only around 14% pay at the rate of 30%, and less than 1% pay at the rate of 45%."

With 2 children, you would get 3 individual allowance.
i.e. your husband's income would be split in 3 to calculate the tax payable.
Which means that each 3rd is taxed at 1) 0% then 2) 14% then 3) 30% then the final slice at 41%.
The tax due would then be recombined to reach a final figure.

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Free advice is worth what you pay for it .....

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I have already suggested that the OP should take professional advice in post #3

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That explains a lot. :rolleyes: When the median tax contribution is zero you end up with a lopsided political system and a tendancy for people to vote for politicians promising tax increases on "the wealthy", because the wealthy are treated as cash cows and those that pay nothing are unlikely to vote for a change in the status quo.

Re: Taxes
 

Income tax here is calculated on the household unlike the UK and kids weigh into the factor as well.

Rough Guide

The French system is harsher on single people and from what I have noticed employers and employees prefer not to get tangled up in overtime as in annoys the accountant.