Well, there are a few questions that pop up my mind when I read all those articles and answers, hence my looking for expertise:
I go to UK usually 3 times a year to work on our end of term concerts. Does that count as work on the UK? Does it mean that a part of my salary can/should be declared in the UK?
When you are a director of a France company you can choose to pay yourself a salary of only the minimum amount to get your pension trimesters covered (528,5€/month) and the rest in dividends. Since I am a director of my UK business, will that be the same or will I have to pay myself at least the SMIC as salary as an employee?
What kind of agreement do I need to draw as a director of a foreign company in France?
Will I have to have an employment contract in France with my own company?
Is it needed to have a succursale or a bureau de liaison in France?
Will the UK company get the same deductions as if it was paying two salaries to UK employees?
Will the company need to open a bank account in France?
You must get confirmation from professional sources. From my own understanding which is no doubt very simplified I would expect the answers to be as follows
But then (in our case) the issue would have been that you’re only in Italy that week - then somewhere else - so it really isn’t that simple, is it?
Anyway, I don’t want to take the discussion away from Elena’s specific situation - it’s pretty clear, I think, that the best course of action is to lay all the details out clearly and honestly for the accountant’s advice - I just hope we have helped clarify the right questions to ask - and possibly in understanding the answers!
Thanks @Geof_Cox.
I appreciate all the answers.
As I said in my first post I was not looking for all the answers here, I was looking for contacts of experts/advisers able to answer questions related to both France and UK, which you provided in your first answer.
I’ve contacted 2 other experts and I hope to get clear answers to all my questions and fix the situation asap.
Thanks @Sandcastle.
As I said in my previous answer to @Geof_Cox, I am not expecting to get the answers here.
The questions were only posted to show that it is not indeed as easy and straight forward as it seems and there are many things to be clarified.
As you said in some of your answers that needs of professional advice, which was the only thing I was looking for when I posted my initial question.
I appreciate the effort, though.
My experience of experts her in France has been that they will answer the questions you ask, but not think in the round to actually adapt the answers to the totality of your situation. Ask lots and lots of questions!
The number of times I have kicked myself in hindsight because I didn’t ask the question that would have elicited a crucial answer.
Examples: Our business structure worked beautifully for what we were doing, but now we want to downsize it doesn’t. Given that we were mid 50’s when we set up neither the accountants (or us) thought to ask about the long terms future. Another is that the received wisdom on renting meublé is not as simple as it sounds. Had we asked the right questions we would not have let tenants stay beyond the first year and build up rights. Heating system for our house, totally wonderful heat pump system but not adapted for our gîte as have to heat to 12 degrees all year. Had we asked the right question this would have become obvious. I can think of many others!
Oh I couldn’t agree more. The number of times we have said afterwards, if only we had thought to ask them that. I think it is a cultural thing - rude to volunteer additional information because it is polite to assume the person already knows.
We have no light switch from the hall into our lounge believe it or not because the electrician assumed we knew what we were doing and he was too polite to suggest to us it might be a good idea!
Hi there,
coming back with some answers in case it could help someone else.
I was just on the phone with Mark from Shreeve Hallam Jones and as @Geof_Cox said, it is pretty straight forward. I can get a UK salary, and the rest in dividends and even get a NI number due to the fact that I’m a director of a UK company even if I’m a non resident . Then obviously, everything needs to be declared in my french tax return.
Hi Geof_Cox. I know your reply to this post dates back over a year ago but it’s very applicable to my current circumstance. I would love, if possible, to chat with you about your experience with working with Mark and his team at Shreeve Hallam Jones, and in particular how you’ve found running a UK business in France. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Elena, curious to know if you ended up working with Mark and Shreeve Hallam Jones? If so, would love to know your experience of that and what set-up you decided to do in the end as I’m in a very similar situation and would really appreciate any clarification on the matter. Cheers, Ben.