The Paperwork is Too Onerous

It’s official… French folk are revolting… because the paperwork is too onerous… they say…and they should know… so, what chance do the rest of us have ???

Not sure that many of us are eligible for this aid… but you never know… take a look.

Just like Universal Credit, the brainchild of the odious IDS.

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I think that the idea  of Universal Credit is fine - the benefits system really had grown too labyrinthine for most people to get the best out of it.

Of course, then this happens:

Additionally, like a lot of large, IT heavy, government projects the implementation sucks.

There’s probably a lesson there for anyone who thinks that Brexit will be saved by a big, IT heavy, government project to ease goods flows across customs borders…

How is it every thread that dares to be critical of anything French ends up with a slagging off of the UK?

I can only assume that everyone now has French nationality, has burnt their UK passport and will never visit Blighty again.

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Dunno, I don’t live in France though.

But just because I live in the UK doesn’t mean I have to be uncritical about the place.

The article is about paperwork in France and doesn’t mention the UK yet the first reply is a comment about something that the writer doesn’t even have to deal with.

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Fair enough, threads drift - it’s a “feature”.

Do you have any observations to get it back on track.

These systems inevitably become complex because the number of benefits grows with time, some are merged, occasionally some split, but the trend tends is towards more complex systems, not simpler - until some massive reset like UC.

Be too generous and you will have too many on long-term benefits, perhaps trapped there by the fact that working in a low paid job actually makes them worse off; be too complex and those who need support don’t get it - all of which is what Macron said (while controversially complaining that the overall spend was way too high).

There is no leeway here regarding paperwork or any form of procedure BUT that’s the French way and it’s amusing that even the natives are now voicing publicy that they find it hard.

One big issue is the way that different regimes don’t link up. Cotisations require three separate organisations, tax is separate again, and who dreamt of the bloody stupidity that I will not receive a tax number till nearly two years after my arrival in the country? Banks and brokers keep asking me for it, but since you file in arrears, and they don’t even give you a number when you file, but only when they send out the bill, it takes ages to get one. Oh, and I can’t pay my taxe fonciere or d’habitation online either, because no tax number…

Really it would be nice if Mounir Mahjoubi was asked to do a proper systems analysis! In some small areas it’s working - but root and branch reform is needed.

That shouldn’t be a problem - lots of people need to pay TF & TH (all foreign 2nd home owners) without being in the tax system - there’s a link on the tax site which allows you to just use the reference numbers on the bill.

Edit: Or there used to be…

Andrea… why don’t you pay TF and TH by direct debit, monthly or annually… much simpler surely…

another option is to go to your local Office and pay there… they will organize it for you…

Found it!

Go to the impots.gouv.fr site, click the link top right to “Votre espace particulier”.

Without a tax reference you can’t set up an account but on the left hand pane for logging in look down to the bottom and there is another button labelled “Payer en ligne” - follow this and you can pay with the “Numero Fiscal” plus the reference from the avis.

Hope that helps.