CdS being obtained by non-resident second home owners

An update -
Aforementioned English second home owners, having recently obtained CdS through what they term a “loophole”, now feel entitled to motor from UK to hole up at their second home in France despite the border being effectively closed. This couple feel quite certain they can be both residents of France and UK residents but that only the latter counts for tax, and this dual stance keeps them in the NHS. :cake: Is this actually legal, or even ethical?

No and No.

It’s the Dominic Cummings effect :angry:

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No and no, and one hopes that they will get a nasty shock when the French tax people ask them where their tax return is!

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Have they forgotten there’s a pandemic on?

Do they think France and Germany banned visitors from the UK for leisure reasons, for fun?

Do they think so many of us have cancelled socialising for Christmas, in the hope of slowing the spread of omicron down, just to give them space to run around?

Dominic Cummings, indeed

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Résidant régulièrement doesn’t mean what you think it means, it means residing according to the rules, declared, legal etc, nothing to do with duration.
Régulièrement is a faux ami.

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However not sure how the tax people will find out, providing they keep low profile and don’t use health services. It would requires various agencies health, tax border and department to be joined up. I guess it means they just avoid the 90 day in 180 day rule. Bit galling for all of us who play by the rules.

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I don’t think the French is ambiguous though which is why no clarification is offered.

It’s a context/normal use of language thing, I am sure Véro will confirm that no French person would confuse “résidant régulièrement” with “visiting regularly”, partly because the use of résidant implies permanence which forces a specific understanding of the following word.

If you think about it reside = “live permanently” even in English thus replacing/expanding “résidant” and translating “régulièrement” as “regularly” yields “live permanently regularly” which makes little sense, whereas “live permanently in accordance with the rules” works perfectly.

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The whole tale is a bit galling.

Their CdS were obtained initially to avoid the 90 day limit and paying for a visa. Now being used to visit their holiday home for precisely the reasons Macron sought to prevent. Rather aggressively consider themselves rightful dual residents, possession of the CdS giving them an express right to come and go as they please and avoid French tax by maintaining less than 180 days a year in France.

The France tax department would likely be quite interested in their large house in the middle of Oxford.

My husband’s sister and righter than God. Sorry all, using the platform to vent :exploding_head:

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Why don’t you shop them to the tax people?

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Where does this stop though, I know a group of Brits who drink drive all the time and French and Brits that work on the black, should I shop the lot of them?

The point I 'm trying to make is, if you are so irate about it, do something instead of talking about it.

:pensive::christmas_tree::face_with_hand_over_mouth::hourglass_flowing_sand:

The law is always smarter than the criminal, eventually. As seemingly lax the system was for obtaining a CDS I very much doubt that the people being talked about managed to get more than a 5 year card. It is already a year since the UK left the EU and in less than 4 years applications to renew 5 year CDS permits will be required. For those who have not yet realised their criminality I believe that France will have them by the short and curlies. At the very least their 5 year scam will come to an end and with a bit of luck they will find that not having fulfilled the requirements of the CDS they will be in very deep water.

Irate is too strong, I’m disappointed that people I know have blatantly flouted the rules regarding the CdS application but that also applies to others that I associate with who don’t have a problem with drink driving on a regular basis both French and Brits.

Vent away. Perhaps some karmic sense will get to them via the ether……and maybe one day they’ll listen when you say to them that what they are doing is illegal and could mean big penalties if caught.

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I don’t think irate is too strong - I’d go a good bit further in the case of anyone making a CdS application knowing that they were not resident in France, just to avoid the Schengen rules and the need to pay for a visa.

Hopefully the system will, as JohnBoy suggests, catch up with them eventually, although I wonder which paper will get to carry the faux outrage?

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In case of house-fire… I have firsthand experience that Insurers will look at every aspect of the Policy (amongst other things, obviously)…
Those with any sort of Insurance anomaly might well find any payout is reduced and/or “nothing at all… if fraud is suspected”

If one is Resident in France, one’s Insurance Policy should note that… might be an idea for everyone to check their property is not still listed as “Maison Secondaire”…

EDIT: this post is aimed at everyone… never hurts to check one’s Insurance … !!!

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I think Survive France has scooped them all going by the comments on this thread :wink::joy:

It’s annoying that some people haven’t stuck to the rules, and hopefully they’ll be found out not least as it could reflect poorly on the rest of us, but goodness me everyone here must have lived exemplary lives. I consider myself someone with good morals who thinks it’s important to do the right thing but still, as they say, ‘let he who is without sin…’ and all that.

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Our insurance lady asked for copies of our CdS.