Many years ago, my contact at our SIP explained that it was best all round if they met the individual, to ensure that things got off to a good start with how to complete the Declaration, but also (and at this point she whispered) to confirm that the Newcomer was “bona fide” (who they purported to be). 
1 Like
Book your appointment well in advance. They fill up quickly!
1 Like
and if going on the free-for-all “open day”… the line starts to form very early… we got there at 8am and were not the first in the queue… !!! but we did get seen… phew
Thanks everyone. I went to the office in Condom last week to ask for a numero fiscale to declare my house as my residence but they told me it was too early and I would be able to have one with my tax declaration. I know when the deadline for tax declaration is, but when is the startline?
They also asked me why I had come to an office in a different department and looked confused when I explained that it was because it was the closest to my house
Online should be open 13th April…
Deadlines for submitting,online… according to Department , has already been put on this thread.
Paper Declarations will be sent out between 6th and 25th April and must be returned by 20th May…
La Direction générale des Finances Publiques (DGFIP) va publier le 13 avril le formulaire vous permettant de remplir votre déclaration de revenus. Le document est accessible en ligne sur le site impots.gouv.fr. En ce qui concerne la déclaration papier , elle a sera envoyée aux personnes qui l’utilisent encore, entre le 6 et le 25 avril . S’il est possible de remplir votre déclaration dès réception de celle-ci, vous avez en revanche une date limite à respecter pour l’envoyer à l’administration fiscale. Les échéances dépendent du mode de déclaration choisi (papier ou en ligne) et de votre département de résidence.
EDIT @GillyBilly check where your correct SIP office is (your Mairie will be able to tell you)…
then, if you can visit your SIP now and perhaps ask about first-time declarations… got to be worth a try, before the rush…
In another blow to people trying to get their tax fixed…
HMRC to make permanent cuts to helplines
HMRC has announced that their self assessment phoneline will close between April and September every year following a trial of the move in 2023, while also making permanent cuts to the VAT and PAYE helplines.
I wonder whether this will impact DTT tax refund / Tax code fixing and chasing - maybe these do / will go though a different channel.
another source for those fed up with grauniad links! 
The various articles (thanks for posting) I’ve read suggest that complex refund cases will continue to have HMRC ‘support’. As many will know, double tax treaty claims can be highly complex. For example, just try and work out what the ‘Elimination of double taxation’ article in the UK/France treaty actually means. It is fairly impenetrable, even for people who used to do this sort of thing for a living, like me. Anecdotally when you call the PAYE Helpline to discuss a treaty refund claim, you will usually be put through, eventually, to a ‘Technician’, as the issues are far from run of the mill, and require specialist knowledge. Likewise correspondence on such cases often comes from the Complex Cases section of HMRC. I think it would be totally unreasonable to expect taxpayers with treaty claims not to be able to access specialist support. I have every confidence that those phoning HMRC to progress double tax treaty claims (that would otherwise sit gathering dust for months!) will be able to continue to do so.
The decision to reduce the already overloaded phone lines apparently also applied to other phone lines including for PAYE for mployers and VAT.
MSE has an update today saying HMRC isn’t going ahead with the closures [for now?] and there’s a hint the Treasury Committee told them not to.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2024/03/hmrc-self-assessment-phonelines/
It seems that there’s been a rethink.
Jeremy Hunt orders UK tax agency to reverse plan to cut number of helplines - Jeremy Hunt orders UK tax agency to reverse plan to cut number of helplines via @FT
Can you still get face-to-face appointments with UK tax offices?
I have an appointment with the Strasbourg tax office today and am very glad to be able to do it in person rather than over the phone.
Am still trying to clarify whether, if I retire this year and opt to stay with my international organization’s private health insurance, CGS will be levied on my pension (which is considered foreign -source) because my husband at that point will be à la charge de la sécu.
Looks like I just found the answer to my question. But will be good to get confirmation from the tax office before I decline the option of keeping my employer’s private health insurance:
CSG pour un couple de retraités, quel fonctionnement ?
Quelle CSG en 2024 pour un couple à la retraite ? Première chose importante à savoir, pour un couple marié ou uni par un Pacs, le taux de CSG est commun : chaque membre du couple est soumis au même taux de CSG même en cas de différence importante de revenus (y compris si seul, l’un des conjoints aurait pu prétendre au taux réduit ou à l’exonération de CSG).
But CSM is URSAFF not the fisc tho”?
There was a recent court case which I can track down if you want about an American with private health insurance and whether that exonerated them from paying CSS. The answer was an expensive fine and a resounding no. They had to pay it.
CSS is given by CPAM (Ameli) as I receive it each year and not URSSAF or the CAF.
In a word, no/or very unlikely. You can try and call their helplines (and wait…and wait), or use their web chat for self assessment but otherwise you communicate via the post. Not email. Most if not all UK tax offices shut their public enquiries desks many years ago. Many offices dealing with individuals income taxes, particularly PAYE, were relocated to the UK Midlands, North and Scotland during Margaret Thatcher’s government. This was seen as a way of boosting employment away from the South East, and presumably in the belief it would save money. Culturally HMRC is completely different from the Impôts in terms of services to individuals. The idea of them helping you with your tax return, as is possible here in France, is virtually inconceivable in the UK. It’s your responsibility to take advice if needed/file your return under self assessment etc is the mindset.
Others may have different experiences of HMRC…
Judging from the Hospital costs discussed in a recent thread… I’m just wondering how your employer’s Health Insurance compares to you paying for your own Health Insurance in France… ???
Hey Jane and Shiba. What’s CSS?
I’m talking about the main prélèvement social, CSG (contribution sociale généralisée).
I did go to see URSSAF last week and they assured me that CSG as levied on retirement pensions is nothing to do with them.
So I’m going to try the Fisc.
Stella, my employer’s health insurance is brilliant. They cover pretty much everything.
But when I retire, only I will have the option of staying with them.
My husband (who doesn’t work for my employer) can no longer be covered (unless I were to transfer absolutely every piece of income - including even interest-bearing bank accounts - into my name, rendering him a total dependant. That isn’t going to happen).
So at that point he will join the Sécu. And so become liable to CSG (being tax resident in France and affilié à un régime maladie obligatoire français).
Assuming that, as his wife, I am then going to be paying roughly 10% of my gross pension in CSG (+ CRDS, CASA), why would I myself opt to stay with private insurance? Since that would mean that, in addition to paying 10% of my pension in prélèvements sociaux (because of my husband) I would also be paying private health insurance premiums of around €250 per month for myself .
We might as well both join the Sécu. No?
I have absolutely no objection to paying CSG etc. I just don’t want to be paying extra for private insurance if two members of a married couple can be covered by the Sécu for the same price as one.
If you see what I mean.
Before anyone mentions it, I reckon we won’t be liable to CSM (PUMA tax) because our “revenus du capital ou du patrimoine”
will be below the threshold.
1 Like
Not sure of the sums involved but possibly your employer’s insurance might be a better long term bet? Medical costs do seem to get very big very quickly. I am guessing that if you are one household in a position to pay some tax, France thinks that’s fair and the private option might not have too much extra cost net for any harder rules that might apply to state provision in the future.
1 Like
I meant CSM, the cotisation subsidiaire maladie that inactive people with a passive income over a certain level pay.
Hi Karen
Don’t know if you had time to read the above - and possibly I haven’t explained it very well. But basically, under my employer’s rules, husband can’t stay with my private health insurance after I retire. Unless I make him 100% dependent on me financially (he couldn’t even have a savings account in his name). Given his atrocious French and the risk that I could drop dead any minute, I think that would be nuts.
If I keep the private insurance for myself, I THINK (this is what I need the Fisc to confirm), I would be paying private health insurance premiums (approximately €250 per month) PLUS 10% of my gross pension (maybe around €600 per month) in prélèvements sociaux.