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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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France Voila - Newsletter #60
Nizas - France - April 1 , 2002 1. Important Message for all Renters and Owners 2. Buying a Home in France - We Can Help 3. Booking Hotels by Internet - A Warning 4. Starting A Business In France 5. Classified Adverts and Pen Pals 6. New Canal Boat Hire website 7. Car Rental Rip-offs - Again 8. Income Taxes in France for new Residents 9. Nizas - "It's Like Living Inside a Cezanne" == Sent from France by.. http://francevoila.com/ All you need to visit - or live - in France. Full details to subscribe, change address and unsubscribe are at the end of this newsletter. Write to me at mailto:tony@nizas.com This newsletter talks about some important issues for renting property in France, either as an owner or a visitor, we are introducing a new section for you to advertise anything FREE or ask for pen pals etc, plus the continuing story of life in a French country village. ===== 1. Important Message for all Renters and Owners The laws and regulations relating to property rentals in France are now being applied to all rentals, including vacation rentals. Recent legislation in 1998 and 2001 has now given clear directives that all rental property must be managed through a licenced real estate agent and that all deposits and rentals paid to the owner must be paid into a secure and bonded account held by that agent. The only exception to this will be an owner who is also a full time French resident and who rents out their own personal residential property for a short "season", up to 93 days a year. The aim of these regulations are to protect the consumer and the owner, there is also (not a surprise here) a benefit to the French authorities in tax and tourist revenue. All property rentals in France are liable to taxation in France. There are no agreements where the income from the property can be taxed in another country and these taxes then offset against French taxation, the logic is that the property is in France and it is the property which generates income, therefore the income generated will be taxed in France. The tax allowances are generous, under the simple "forfait" system of taxation only 30% of the gross rental income will be liable for taxation. However very few allowances will be deductible from this including costs for electricity, local taxes, water and other services. In addition to the property tax there are local tourism taxes. These vary from region and department, but are approximately 1 euro per bed per night and are calculated on the basis of 93 days a year whether the property is let or not. These taxes can be added to the rental and collected from the renter. If they are included in the price they can be deducted from the declared rental income. It is important to note that all rental revenue, no matter where it is paid or collected, is liable to French taxation. For example, if an owner lives in the UK and rents their property to a visitor from the USA with the rental charges being paid into a bank in the Channel Islands. This money is liable under French tax laws, to be taxed in France and should be declared, in France, as income for this property. There are already controls in place to monitor all advertising of all rental properties in France and these files have been collected by and are being registered by a network of inspectors throughout France. This system will be self policing as the majority owners who are complying with the system will not support those who are breaking the laws and evading taxation. At present the fines and penalties which will be given are not defined as action has only been taken so far against the large companies who are advertising vacation properties without working in conjunction with a French agency. Some fines have been over 250,000 euro. This year, 2002, is the year of transition and that these regulations will be strictly enforced by March 2003. The aim during this year is to contact all owners and companies advertising or renting other properties and to advise and help them to register with an licensed agency before next March. Our websites at RentalsFrance.com and 1stVacations.com, plus over 40 other of our vacation websites for France, are registered and insured and are working to offer rental accommodation to our clients only from licenced suppliers. Where we have individual owners, or where we are asked to offer a property, we work with the owner to make a legal framework to market that property through our own agency. There are a number of advantages to the owner, including. 1. All money from renters is paid into a secure, bonded, account and payment to the owner is prompt and guaranteed. 2. All receipts are clearly recorded and the French tax authorities are satisfied that the income from the property is accurate and complete. 3. The insurers of the property know that the rentals are within the French system and are legal and insurable. 4. We at Rentals France can actively market and promote the property in all media without restriction or risk of legislation as we are working directly through the registered agencies in France and we are licensed to do this as a French business. The rental price and commissions paid are agreed with the agency you choose to work with. Obviously an agency with the best marketing strategy and routes to market are able to give you both a good price and more bookings. There is a lot more to this than I can outline in this newsletter. We are working with all the relevant associations and the authorities to be abler to clearly report on this through our newsletters and websites. If you would like more information about this,please write to me at mailto:tony@francevoila.com ===== SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT FRANCE. Dear Tony - Pleased again to get a Tony E-Mail. I don't know how you can possibly assemble all the information and then send the e-mail letters. In the USA good sources of information are the Bureau of tourism in the area they are interested in, or to the France Tourist Bureau, in Rockefeller Center, N.Y.C asking for their free brochures. They will mail a beautiful package weighing at least 3 lbs. I do believe it is really necessary to go to the country you are interested in and make inquiries and inspect the properties before you attempt to buy. Renting is not quite as risky but unless one knows the terrain (you mentioned the Riviera where one might have to walk or drive up steep inclines to rental properties.) it is difficult for someone who as never been there to picture what it is like.The locations couldn't possibly all be on flat land. Josette ===== 2. Buying a Home in France - We Can Help In the notes I made in the first article about Rentals, I mentioned we are now working as a licenced Estate Agent in France. This is a strictly controlled business and we have the registration and secure financial bonding needed. We can also now operate as a real estate agent and can help you to look for and to buy property in France. In previous newsletters I am less than flattering about French "immobilier" (realtors). Our own aim is to be trustworthy, helpful, courteous and smiling (I was a Boy Scout a long time ago). So if you are thinking of buying property in France and are looking for help, we are "ready willing and able", (cue for the music). http://francevoila.com/latindex.html ===== INHERITANCE LAWS: Tony, After reading " A Year in Provence" I have a question about buying property in France. Is it true that prior to selling a property the owners must have consent from all descendants? Thanks, Ross = Hello Ross It depends who actually owns the house. If a house is owned as a purchase or has been inherited or donated to a person, or a couple, then it is their property and they can sell it without any reference to their children (legitimate or illegitimate). But if the owner, or one of a couple, has died, then the children automatically inherit the property (a will cannot alter this) and ALL their permission is needed (legitimate and illegitimate) of both couples from any previous marriage or relationship. Many French parents "give" their property away to their children a long time before they expect to die, in France the parents can enjoy the benefit without ownership, this means if they wish to sell, the "owner" which is one or more of the children have to agree. Hope this helps a bit Tony ===== 3. Booking Hotels by Internet - A Warning This month seems to be a list of things to be careful of when you are visiting France. It seems that, just as rentals are now regulated and controlled to the benefit of both the renter and the authorities, hotel bookings are also subject to similar legislation. I am finding more hotel reservation websites which show their guarantee registration numbers and their secure banking registration. If a hotel reservation company does not have the correct registration, then it is illegal for anyone to book a hotel in France through this company. Again the aim is to protect the consumer, but again the French government is also making sure that commissions paid for all reservations are subject to french law (and French taxes). ===== DRIVING ITINERARY Tony Hi I plan to drive down to Beziers next week and wonder if you can assist re the best route vs. cost etc. Where do I pick up the central one you mentioned and as we shall be leaving Calais at about 1.45am how will we fare with petrol stations as we do not have the chipped credit cards for the unmanned self service pumps?? Hope you can help . thanks Robert = Hi Robert Go to our page at http://rentalsfrance.com/maps/ This has a list of free sites where you can ask for a detailed itinerary for any route and you can choose - fastest - cheapest - nicest etc. Autoroute service stations are manned 24 hours, you are correct that your UK or a USA credit card will not work in the automatic machines. If you come down the central Autoroute "La Meridienne" this is the fastest and cheapest route to Languedoc and there are major service stations on route, but some are 50 to 80 km apart. best wishes Tony ===== 4. Starting A Business In France One of the most frequent questions we get is about starting a business in France. This is the subject of many books, but answers depend firstly on "what business". The professions of medicine, law and finance are controlled by the appropriate bodies, but in France there are many other businesses which are strictly controlled by legally licenced and protected professional bodies. Our own business of property, travel and rentals are controlled and in this newsletter I am touching on some of the recent developments to bring this into a far greater level of managed accountability which, in the end, can only be good for the customer. However all business and individual enterprise has to be officially registered in France. This is done by the Relevant and local Chambers of Commerce and the Chambers of Enterprise as well as registration with the local government departments and the local taxation authorities. To my amusement I found that all these authorities frequently contradict each other with what is needed to be done. But with a civil servant for every 7 working people in France this is not surprising. here is one recent mail about this. = Hi Tony We are considering starting a company which provides art holidays in Collioure in Languedoc Roussillon in 2003. Are you aware of any laws, regulations or permission we must obtain from local authorities/Marie before we start such a venture, as we would not want to upset anyone, but in fact work with them as part of their tourist attractions Your advice in this matter would be much appreciated together with anything else we should know. An editorial could always help!!! Many thanks, Heather = Hi Heather Unless you are a registered French company or a resident who is a member of the Chamber of Commerce in France (and carefully controlled for taxes), you will not be able to work with or expect to get the cooperation of local tourist or official agencies, worse, you may find yourself prosecuted by other Tourist operators or agencies for working in France. There is nothing to stop you or restrict you in bringing a group of people with you and running a course here, as long as it is a completely private enterprise and is not advertised in France of claiming to be any official or professional service. The rule of thumb is that all money earnt in France must have tax paid in France. To be officially involved in any tourist activity needs special licensing. I do not believe it can be done as a non resident. In all areas of tourism the authorities are tightening up and getting very severe. The "agences de voyage", "immobilier" and other booking agents require legislation such as - Government Licence Number (Licence d'Etat), Client Guarantee (APS), Civil Liability Insurance (RCP), - this is very involved (and expensive). Hope this helps, Tony ===== LANGUEDOC AND LANGUEDUI In the last newsletters I have asked about the origin of "Languedoc" and "Langedui". I was overwhelmed with answers from my intelligent readers. Many thanks to all of you who replied. Here is a clear reply from Mary Quinton = I believe I know the answer to this. Speakers of Langue d'Oc use the word "oc" for "yes". This comes from the Latin word "hoc". Speakers of "Langue d"ui" say "ui" or "OUI" for "yes". This comes from the Latin word "huic". Both words (hoc, huic) come from the Latin word for "this" or "thus". Many thanks Mary, can this be where "OK" comes from meaning yes? I await readers comments. Tony ===== LIVING "EN FAMILLE" Dear Tony, I would like to visit the South of France during the summer and stay for a month with a French speaking family so as to improve my French (I live in Saint Martin, FWI). Can you recommend how I go about finding a family?? Many thanks from the Caribbean, Claire = Hello Claire It is very difficult to find a french family who are looking for people to live with them. It is a very "un-French" thing to do.My best suggestion is to put some free classified ads in news groups or advertising sites. You can add one Free on our site at http://francevoila.com/ Bonne Chance Tony ===== 5. Classified Adverts and Pen Pals Over the past three months I have had hundreds of requests for pen-pal exchanges, far more than I can reply to individually. We recently put up a classified advert site where you can place your own requests for lots of things including pen-pals, so far only 20 of you have done this but I hope when I have got all the links in place this will help. You can go directly to this page at http://francevoila.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi ===== FILM STARS WANTED: Dear Tony I am writing to you from an independent television production company in the UK. We have been commissioned to make a series about people leaving the UK to begin new lives in France and Spain. Having seen your website featuring fabulous properties in Normandy & Brittany I thought you may be able to offer me some assistance. I am currently looking for two families or couples who are about to make the move to Europe who we can follow on this exciting and life changing experience. Ideally we are looking for people who are intending to renovate or restore a period property preferably in northern France and also Spain. I am enquiring as to whether you have any clients currently close to purchasing property and making the move abroad to live. We are filming in May and will spend up to a year following a project with our presenters offering advice on renovations, interiors, furnishings etc. I would be extremely grateful if you could contact me if any one you think may be suitable Kind Regards Tom Weston mailto:film@rentalsfrance.com ===== 6. New Canal Boat Hire Website A brand new and very smart website came on-line last month. Do have a look at http://francevoila.com/mcindex.html Book a holiday on a traditional, steel hulled, English canal boat - but in the Mediterranean sunshine on one of the most beautiful stretches of water in the world. Or a week on a boat and a week in a villa in the south of France. We can offer this through Minervois Cruisers... ===== A YEAR DOWN THE LINE : or, How You Can Get Lucky with House Buying in France with No Experience One of the great pleasures of our business is meeting the owners of the rental properties. Many have found their dream of a home in France. Here is a short piece straight from the heart. http://francevoila.com/features/douglas/ ===== 7. Car Rental Rip-offs - Again Over the last two years I have reported many cases where car rental companies have acted in an illegal and fraudulent way. I have personal experience of this and we have a forum at http://pub2.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=169833244 In the archives you can see other mails and reports. The message is clear " ALWAYS GET THE AGENT TO INSPECT THE CAR WHEN YOU RETURN IT AND GET THEM TO SIGN THE FORM THAT ALL IS CORRECT". Here is a recent letter from a reader which takes this a bit further. = Tony: I found your site with great interest today. I am having a major battle with Europcar and they are going to sue me for my web site www.europcar-beware.com which is soon to be www.europcarsucks.com You can read about what happened to us at europcar-beware.com and see how their lawyers are threatening honest customers. Regards, Joe Santilli = I get far too many reports of "problems" with car rental companies for this to be an exception. ===== AIR CONDITIONING - OR LACK OF: Tony- I love the area around Miramar and the L'Esterel coast. Are there any apartments that are air conditioned. I don't understand the lack of air conditioning in private homes in France. It can get beastly hot during the summer. This is one reason I have never rented an apartment. I have been going to this area for twenty years and it is still hard to find A/C except hotels or super luxurious villas. I have even been told that A/C is unhealthy or that the breeze cools you in 90 degree weather. Are they for real? - Laura = Hello Laura Yes it is a fact that air conditioning is very rare. the simple fact is that most French owners do not like it. It is only useful possibly at most here for four to six weeks of the year and this is the time when the French owners will take a vacation somewhere else and rent out their homes to others. We do have a few properties with air conditioning including http://rentalsfrance.com/paraisette http://rentalsfrance.com/malibu/ I will pass your mail on to our specialists in their areas to advise of other properties. best wishes Tony ===== 8. Taxes in France for new Residents I get many questions about taxation and the paperwork needed to live in France. Fortunately for me my readers know a lot more that I do and are happy to share this knowledge. Here are a couple of recent mails which are clear and most helpful. = Dear Tony I enjoy reading your newsletter. I came across the "tax question" in newsletter # 59. As a frequent visitor to France (2 or 3 times a year), I've contemplated buying property there to serve as a second home after I retire from my present employment. I found your statement "an American living in France would be subject to double taxation" alarming, as I recalled that there was a tax treaty with France. (I practiced tax law for 20+ years and spent a good bit of time on cross border issues.) In fact, the United States and France concluded a new convention "for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital" in 1994. There are separate articles of the convention dealing with different types of income, e.g., dividends, interest, royalties, capital gains, etc. While there are a few twists and turns, however, the general rule for pensions is stated in Article 18 as follows: "Pensions and other similar remuneration, including distributions from pension and other retirement arrangements, derived and beneficially owned by a resident of [France or the United States] in consideration of past employment, whether paid periodically or in a lump sum, shall be taxable only in [the State of which the recipient is a resident]". Furthermore, as to Social Security payments received by United States citizens, paragraph 1(b) of Article 18 explicitly states "pensions and other payments made under the social security legislation of [France or the United States] a resident of the other [country] shall be taxable only in [country making the payment]". The convention defines "resident" in a fairly straightforward way as a "person who . . . is liable to tax [in France or the United States] by reason of his domicile, residence, . . . or any other criterion of a similar nature." As for other types of income a pensioner might receive, there are a number of rules--generally the country in which the income is generated gets first crack at taxing it--designed to ensure that potentially taxable income doesn't fall between the cracks. At the same time, there are other rules for giving the taxpayer credit against the tax liability paid in one of these countries against the tax liability that might be due on the same income to the other country. Of course, section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 provides an exclusion of up to $80,000 from United States income tax for United States taxpayers employed in France and most other countries, but this does not apply to pensions and annuities. In addition, section 901 of the Code allows United States taxpayers a credit against their United States income tax for foreign income taxes. Thus, as you can see, it's (fortunately from my perspective) not quite so bleak a prospect as the answer provided in Newsletter # 59 implied. Keep up the good work. It's a good newsletter. I particularly enjoy your accounts of life in the village. Lloyd Ator = Many Thanks Lloyd - = Hi Tony: We love your newsletter and have found it most helpful. Just read your recent newsletter and you might want to review the section on Americans who maintain their tax status in the United States while living in France. There is an agreement with France allowing no double taxation. It is outlined in great detail under the web site for the U.S. Consulate of France. It is a great site with tons of detail. Another thing that we were told, by many people, is that we would not be able to obtain a mortgage loan for more than 80%. We were ready with the 20 % that we expected to have to pay down, but we didn't have to. Our bank, Credit Agricole, has approved a 100% loan to us. After meeting and talking with many different lenders and being told something different by each one of them, the bank with whom we opened our account, the same one that told us we could get up to 100% came through for us. We want to use some of that cash we would have put down as a down-payment for some renovations, so 100% was incredible news for us. Getting my Carte de Sejour was also relatively easy, even though I live in a very small town where Americans are not too common, I did manage. Getting my Carte Gris for my 2000 Toyota I shipped over here is a different story. Too long for this note. I will get it, but it has been the most difficult part of our move here. If anyone wants any advice from our experiences or has any questions about this region, I would be glad to help if I can. I live in Malaucene (Vaucluse) and saw 59 houses before I finally found THE one (giving me a fairly good idea of price, quality and quantity around here). Thanks for a great newsletter. Lori Mansour mailto:Lorimans@aol.com = Thank you Lori. ===== HELP WANTED: Dear Tony My wife Sue and I and our three year old son are currently house sitting for friends in St Guiraud near Clermont l'Herault until June 13th. We are awaiting the completion of our house build in Magalas near Roujan which we thought would be around the end of June.However,we have just discovered that our builder cannot complete until the end of November. We are therefore seeking accommodation between June and November at the lowest possible cost.We appreciate this will be difficult baring in mind the summer season. We have experience in estate management and could take on this kind of work if accommodation was included. Can you advise us in either of these directions? Any help you give us would be gratefully received. Thank you Kind regards, Brian Wallis ===== 9. Nizas - "It's Like Living Inside a Cezanne" Today, April 1st, was the day of the Nizas Picnic. We all go up to the "causse" (plateau) overlooking Nizas and relax in the sunshine eating, drinking and sometimes singing. Today was warm and the light was very soft, one of our neighbours looked through the trees, down into the valley where the old village of Nizas nestles surrounded by vineyards and said that sitting here was just like living inside a painting by Cezanne. I just looked up some paintings and can see what they meant. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/C/cezanne/gardann2.jpg.html A French picnic is not dusty sandwiches and a bottle of beer, there were rows of tables groaning with home made cakes and pies, plenty of wine and fresh coffee. Four generations of people all laughed and played in the fields. The evening had a chamber music concert in the village church and we ended sitting outside the village cafe with the (nearly) last drink of the day served by a smiling (this is most unusual) patron. A recent study by the journal L'Express, found that our department, Herault, is the department of France which has the best services, culture, sport, health, plus many other features and is the one more people would prefer to live in than any of the other 94 departments of France - I know why. ===== We love to receive your letters and comments and we really try to answer all mail but it does get lost, filtered or vanishes somewhere to a planet of lost e-mails, so if you write and don't hear from me, please write again. mailto:tony@nizas.com ===== |
