Hi,
First of all, I’m not from the EU so my case might be quite different from a lot of the people here.
I have recently moved to France and registered as an Auto-entrepreneur, my wife is French and I have a titre de long sejour. I’m having problems trying to open a bank account, have tried with about 4 banks. All of them asked me to provide an avis d’imposition but I haven’t even declared any revenue as I can’t receive payments without a bank account.
So basically, I’m in a situation where I can’t receive payments because I don’t have a bank account (which requires me to show them an Avis d’Imposition to open an account) and I can’t get an Avis d’Imposition, since I’m registered as an Auto Entrepreneur and my first tax payment (trimestriel) should be in September. Is there a way for me to get an avis d’imposition? Or a way to open a bank account without one?
Thanks in advance, any help is greatly appreciated.
maybe give Barclays a call. They have branches in UK and France so they may have some flexibility on this.
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An avis d’imposition is an annual tax statement which you receive after the annual income tax exercise. If you moved to France this year you’ll take part in your first income tax exercise next year and you’ll receive your first avis d’imposition in Aug/Sept 2018.
Don’t confuse this with the quarterly social security payments you make as an auto entrepreneur - this is not the same as income tax.
Obviously you can’t wait until September 2018 to open a bank account so I think you need to explain the situation and ask what they can accept in lieu.
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Thanks Everyone. I have a rendezvous with Credit Agricole today. Will try to tell them just what Anna suggested. Fingers crossed.
I would take along with you previous years’ tax papers and bank statements from whoever you banked with before you moved to France. Basically what they want to check is that you have a history of being able to manage your money, ie you will be a good quality customer. I seem to remember that when I first opened an account with CA I showed them UK bank statements going back 6 months or so and a couple of years’ UK tax returns. They accepted that.
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Just got back from my rendez-vous with Crédit Agricole and it went super smooth.
I only needed to provide them with a copy of my passport, my quittance de loyer (they asked me to bring my current e rental contract too, which I will take there tomorrow) and my bank statements from my account abroad.
The manager was very receptive, she didn’t speak English but spoke slow enough to make me realise my French classes have been paying off! 
Just the fact that the manager didn’t act like she was doing me a favour, was a big plus. As some people mentioned here in other threads, a good manager can make a real difference and although this was my first interaction with her, she left a positive impression.
Thanks everyone!
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Andrew I had the same problem BUT Credit Agricole accepted my P60 as proof of having paid taxes in GB and the main address for the account is my British address. Perhaps a bank will accept an equivalent for you! A joint account with your French wife??
