Good morning everyone - has anyone gone the route of registering as a farm in order to obtain a carte vitale. It seems to cost a fortune and I wondered if we were incorrectly advised. Is there any other way? Seeing as we have sold nothing this year, building up the stock, could we change to an entreprise instead? What happens to all the cotisations we have paid - would we ever be able to take a pension? Also, is there any organisation, preferably in Normandy that can advise on these things or should I take my concerns to the MSA? WE have been paying for 18 months and really cannot afford to continue.
Thanks in advance!
Dear Sarah
I saw your posting about getting a refund from MSA as you work less than 1800 hours per year. Sorry to bother you but do you still have the information that enabled you to get this. We are with MSA not as farmers but as gardeners with a micro and only work about 650 hours per year. They are charging us about 68% of our earnings after business running costs have been taken out. We have written to them about this several times but they are still insisting that we pay the full amount. Any help you could give would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks
As a farmer you cannot change to an" entreprise", you are stuck with the MSA. But you should talk to them and look for their advice. The only business form in France is the "autoentrepreneur "where you only pay cotisations and tax on your TURNOVER when you earn something, but as a farmer you don´t have the choice to do that at the moment. The autoentrepreneur is a good business form for offering services . So you could quit farming and do something else instead if possible.
One of the first things to bear in mind is that if you work for less than 1800 hours per year you are entitled to 50% payment of cotistations. We weren't told this but good news - as we struggled for four years paying full tax - we invited the Financial Controller over, who came armed with a clipboard, and when sat at our kitchen table, with coffee and cake, winked at me whilst telling me that "I did work for less than 1800 hours a year" - to which I agreed. Within 2 days we received a 7,000 Euro refund. Go to the MSA, explain your problems, explain how "very poor" you are and they will help you out - afterall ( bizarrely) this is their job! Good luck