Tax - do I just wait for the demands?

Hi,


New here so not setup my account with photo etc but anyway...


After 6 months in a gite near Niort, I bought and moved to near Chalus on 31st march 2014. Am I right in thinking that my Tax foncieres and d'habitation was covered during the house purchase? Cos I have no demands by post yet.


Also, I have no first demand for income tax (AE established 1/1/14) and nothing on my newly created espace on impots.gouv seems to invite completion. There is something there about CFE that seems to say if I am a certain type of professional I don't get postal demands - afaics thats not me.


Perhaps, but in April I was told I had no return to make in the ae urssaf site, a phone call from the Hotel said tippex my earlier returnand complete by hand yet I then got a notice for late declaration ... all due to a mix up with tax centres (I first registered in Poitou Charentes and changed my address).


So in short. must I be proactive or just sit tight?



Pat

The bill has probably gone to the UK address. Think I'll give them a call, just in case. Tax return is a little way down the track. Thanks for the assistance.

Also, top of the page 'useful links' then autoentrepreneurs, that should help.

CAF. We had the same.

What ae group? I'm new here so don't know what you mean,since there is only Tax... in the discussion category.

Thanks Debra, I filled out the CMU 'aide' wizard and it said yes but to go to my RSI caisse - gone to RAM now and am filling out the form - whilst it does ask for last years 'chiffre d'affaires' it does look possible to apply now. I'll see how it goes. Many thanks for your advice.

I'd phone/call in to your local hôtel des impôts just to clarify the situation - your bill may well have been sent to your old UK address. Was the house furnished on the 1st of jan 2014, if not you'll need proof - difficult but not impossible depending on your maire/local policier or who ever else deals with the attestations required. If you weren't yet living there and the palce wasn't furnished then you shouldn't have to pay ;-)

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the prompt reply. We bought in September 2013 but didn't move in until June 2014. So, we're expecting a bill any day but wondering if we should chase.

MJS

if you bought the house after the 1st of jan then you have no taxe d'habitation to pay for that year. It is normal to pay pro-rata for taxe foncière for the remainder of the year. Your first taxe d'habitation bill will come through in your second year i.e. if you bought on or after the 2nd of january 2014 then the first taxe d'habitation bill will be in the autumln of 2015 for 2015 - you're not responsable for 2014 as you weren't living there on the 1st of jan ;-)

Best to ask AE specific questions in the AE group ;-)

My initial thread seems to have been hijacked, interesting though it is it is off (my) topic.

Anyway, the three months in 2013 were back and forth and, upon advice from an accountant, I plumped for 1/1/2014 as the start of my tax residency and registering for AE.

Notwithstanding that though, can I conclude that I don't need to make an income tax return until May 2015?

Perhaps off-topic but... I have not been declaring my annuity income for my social cotisations just my 'work' income (since the declaration says 'prestations de services non-commerciales' but I recently read that without an S1 I should pay 7.5% - I have an S1 but since I am an AE I have never mentioned it to anyone - things are complicated enough with URSSAF, RSI and RAM without bringing CMU into it. Though once I have made a return I beleve I will be able to apply for assistance with topup medical insurance?

Tax d'Habitation has me really confused. I have already paid Tax Foncier in September (online, really easy, very well thought out system).

When we signed for the property last September the Notaire retained an amount to settle the previous owners liability for Tax Foncier that we were responsible for. Tax d'Habitation, he said, would be payable from the date we moved in and that we should retain the removal receipt as proof of the date we moved in.

When the TF bill arrived we took it to the Maire to ask about Tax d'Habitation. He said it was nothing to do with him but we would receive a bill in November from the Bureau des Impots and we should write to them with copies of the "evidence" when the bill arrived.

November rolls on and no bill. Should we be chasing someone?

I'm also confused about AE status (confusion reigns here!). Should I post questions about AE here or start a new thread in the AE Group.

MJS

It took several years to renovate our house, and we had to pay once the house was "habitable". We asked for clearer definitions and learned that if the roof was weathertight and the windows and doors were fitted the structure is habitable once the first water tap works. We did not have electricity connected at the time but once 80% of the installation was completed the circuits had to be tested and then we were able to connect to EDF, but I'm not sure that made any difference to the habitability or otherwise! We paid reduced taxes for a couple of years in recognition that while "habitable" it was not finished - you don't need plaster on the walls or ceilings for it to be habitable. That said, the previous occupant never had water, mains drainage or power and lived here all her life! She died 30 years before we bought the house. "Habitable" is a word like "reasonable" which is extremely difficult to understand.

OK, the one near us is fully installed, has been for several years. The other has the red, blue and green housing for electricity, water and phone still sticking out of the ground awaiting installation. That may well be the reason. At least, it makes sense. The shack people have wangled it then.

Patrick's reply is about income tax though, anyway I am getting lost with tax d'habitation sometimes. The people converting one barn near us have lived in a tent and 'shack' for over a year and so not need to pay habitation, another conversion 100m up the road and our nearest neighbour is less further on but has furnished it and, for instance, slept in the makeshift bedroom in the warm weather. He is having to pay. They are, despite being almost next door neighbours, in different communes and my sixth sense says that is the (illogical) reason why.

But to be exempted of taxe d'habitation you have to get proof of the fact that it was empty and you weren't living there - usually done by the local police municipale (I've done this twice on two different places). If it's furnished then you pay regardless of the fact of where you were on the 1st of jan that year ;-)

That is apparently right, that is to stop the people who ducked in and out to avoid 1 January. The basis now is who is resident in France 183 days in a year, thus minimally more than half a year. In fact double taxation treaties are more than meets the eye, they now exchange data on individuals sufficiently to measure where someone has paid taxes or should be paying them. It is pretty well Europe wide, not just EU either.

I wasn't earning before 1/1/2014 so I didn't need to submit in May and so I haven't completed my first return yet. I had already contacted the tax office in Poitou Charente and then here in Limousin once I moved, so they know about me. The quarter payments you refer to are the social cotisations to URSSAF which I have been paying (albeit with some confusion over changing regions).

My understanding is that rules of tax residency have been simplified and hinge around principal residence rather than time here and time there. I believe you will have to be french tax resident and submit a UK tax return and rely on the double taxation treaty. My wife and I did this and got UK tax back for Jan-March this year

a question about residence on the first of Jan, I spend most of my time in France, 6 to 7 months from April to October. and the rest either in the UK or in other countries. does this mean as I am not in France on the first of Jan I am excempt from paying.

TF i'll have to pay as i own the property.