chocciecake

What are the chances of Moving to France after Brexit ? :/

My husband and i live in the UK currently and both hold both Aus and UK passports. (well i don't have the UK one yet but will soon!)
We always were planning to go and live in France ,but Brexit has buggered that whole plan up!

We work for ourselves, so don't require jobs and as i mention have two passports.
Would there be any other way to apply to move and work there for ourselves?

Also, what is the best way to learn French fluently while in the UK please?
I cant find a french teacher around where we live and i want the whole family to learn so we can speak french well?

Thanks!

Pulaski

It isn't as easy as just moving to France and carrying on with your business - there are significant administrative, tax, and health insurance implications to moving to France, and unless you have fully assessed the tax and health insurance cost implications you might not want to proceed with your plans anyway.

chocciecake

Thanks for your reply.
So you think you would be much worse off in france than the UK?
My husband is currently paying the top tax bracket here anyway?
We were thinking Midi Pyrennes area.

Pulaski

I leave it to others to provide specifics and examples, but France runs a high tax, high social charge, economy, and the bureaucracy for registering/setting up records for self employment and small business in France is, by all reports I have ever seen, brutal.

cyrian

+1
Pulaski has listed the areas which you need to address before you consider moving.
In addition, you mention your family. Are you moving with children or adults?
If you have school-age children then you have to look at schooling for them also.
Have a look at the "moving to France FAQs at the top of the France forum.
You cannot just start a business in France - you need to register a business with correct prerequisites if appropriate e.g. qualifications; assurances etc.
This includes working for a business registered outside France (especially after Brexit) - otherwise you are working "on the black".
You also should have a "mutuelle" top-up insurance because the French health service covers only 70% of your treatment.
I think that you need to consult an accountant who deals with both the UK and French systems for advice regarding costs and business structures.
Good luck

EuroTrash

Worst case scenario, if Brits have to comply with the same rules as other non EU citizens, you would need visas. Most visas don't allow you to work in France. To get a visa that will allow you to set up a business here, you need to demonstrate that your business will benefit France and the French economy. Normally this involves having a business plan showing that you will be putting in significant investment and creating jobs.

Creating jobs is a whole other issue - French social/employment law is not for the faint hearted and you would certainly need advice on that.

At the moment while the UK is still in the EU, obviously you still have freedom of movement and you can move to any EU state and set up any kind of business you like provided it complies with the laws of that state. Personally I don't see them changing the goalposts once you're established, but at the moment there are no guarantees. Non EU citizens can be refused renewal of their carte de séjour if they break a rule or if the authorities think their business isn't performing well enough, eg towards the end of last year this poor restaurant owner was told to close his business and leave France
Le restaurateur fougerais prié de quitter la France
and it's still rumbling on, as of today he's been allowed to stay conditionally
Fougères. Biraj Subedi, le restaurateur Népalais, obtient un sursis
but really, who would want to live on a knife-edge like that.

chocciecake

Thank you.
My husband does animation and computer based work.
All 4 kids are home educated- not sure if that is allowed in France as I know it is not in Germany!
Is just over the Border in Spain simpler idea, or Italy? :/

cardi

Outside of the free movement system of the EU there is probably nowhere in the world where you can simply live there freely without proving your worth in advance.
I imagine you could have a second home, run the financial side of your business in the UK, and live there as a visitor as long as you did not claim anything from the state ie. health, social services etc (or get on the wrong side of one of the local sneak informers).

Tweedpipe

For a start it sounds as if you would be liable for ISF, which may make you look to other pastures.
https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/fra...xes/wealth-tax

Pulaski

Perhaps the sixth largest "French city", ranked by the number of French citizens resident there?

EuroTrash

Why do you want to leave the UK, in fact? It's one of the easiest, least regulated and in many cases lowest taxed countries in the world for running a business; plus healthcare is free; plus they speak English there. These are things that people tend to miss, after they've moved and discovered that their new country doesn't have these advantages. It's why so many ambitious young French and probably other EU nationals move to the UK, because it has a better business climate. And from what TM has been saying, she might reduce business taxes even further after Brexit to make it a tax haven.

There's something to be said for staying in the UK and coming to France on holiday, that way you'll keep enjoying the wine and the sunshine and the lifestyle and it won't be spoilt by feeling you're being bled dry to pay the salaries and pensions of France's army of fonctionnaires. Do I sound just slightly bitter? It's how most people get, when they've been running a business here for a while.

dmu

+1 for everything that every one has already said!
I'd add that home-schooling is "tolerated" in France, but you'd have to do everything by the book - inform the Mairie why you aren't enrolling them in school, and teach the corresponding French Curriculum for each age (with regular Inspections to ensure that they are at the level of their peers, otherwise they'd be obliged to go to school.)
Hope this is all giving you food for thought, especially if none of you speak French!

Tweedpipe

ET, yes you do, and I'll join you in one to collectively drown our sorrows.

chocciecake

I really appreciate hearing everyones tips, and yes, it does give food for thought!
We have always been vagabonds and with what my husband does, he was still working for his British clients when we nicked off to Aus for 2 years a while back.
We were kind of thinking of renovating our big home we got or a snip here, in snowdonia and letting it out as a holiday let to large groups and swan off somewhere else.
We feel disillusioned after Brexit.
I have ideas of buying a run down old chateau and doing it up...you know, all that stupid stuff!
But that is how we roll and its worked for us so far.
Maybe you are right...maybe we could get a little cottage or something somewhere and just trundle over to Europe and stay for a few months at a time (while my husband still works for his uk clients).
we found an amazing little place on a hilltop village in tuscany for £30,000 that needs s much spending on it, - lovely neighbours.
Life is just so short and I don't want to sit in one place all my life!
Maybe we would be better running the business from the UK and my husband going back to the team for meetings every now and then?

I don't know- we have flexibility working for ourselves and with the kids homeschooled and could have some amazing adventures.
What is the longest you can stay for a stretch as a "visitor"?

chocciecake

So, what made you all move, and do you regret it, or love it despite the odd thing to moan about?