Val Assist General Newsletter Archive

Keep up with all the latest information for Expats.

Every 3 months I send out a Newsletter to my clients, explaining any new procedures or laws that may have come into being.

Here is an archive showing my latest newsletters. Click on the links below to read the latest newsletters.

If you would like to keep up to date, then please sign up to my Newsletters (No Spam, just useful information 4 times a year!). Click on the link at the bottom of this page to sign up.

You can unsubscribe from my newsletters at any time if you wish.
➜ September Newsletter 2024
September Newsletter for Val Assist

Hello Everyone,

After a beautiful summer break in Portugal with family and friends, I am now back in the office during
the following hours:
Monday to Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 4pm.
The best way to contact me is by email, and I will get back to you within 5 working days according
to the emergency of your request.

Income tax form 2024:
September is this time of year when residents in France receive their tax forms for their 2023 income that was declared in April/May 2024.
Please note that it is your responsibility to check that the tax form received correctly indicates all the figures that were declared online. Email me if you need help to understand the form received or to do any corrections.

Taxe Foncière and Taxe Habitation:
It is also the time for all property owners in France (whether you live in France or not) to receive their Taxe Foncière bills for 2024. Payment of this tax is due by the 15th of October. You can pay it directly from within your tax account online, and also arrange monthly payments for 2025 if you have not already set this up and wish to do so.

Taxe Habitation bills for 2024 will also follow shortly for second home owners ONLY (this tax was cancelled for residents of France (maison principale) in 2023).

If not done yet, you can still do the Déclaration de bien immobilier, to declare who is using your property, email me to receive full information about this.

The key question of this quarter:

Do you know who to inform when you move/change address, how and when?
If you move to another French address, or if you leave France for good, see below for the list of services that you will need to contact, and at what stage you have to inform them of your move.

  • Electricity and water: Call the relevant companies during the next few days after you leave with readings taken from the day you left (not necessary for Linky meter).
  • Tax on rubbish collection: Form to fill in after completion indicating new address + attestation of sale.
  • Internet: send letter by recorded delivery post AR one week before moving out.
  • House insurance: provide the attestation of sale from Notaire or end of lease.
  • Car insurance: provide a new utility bill for your new address or a « certificat de cession » if sold.
  • Cpam: Send a letter with your new address in France or/and carte vitale when other health cover is in place in another country.
  • Top up insurance: provide proof of your new address in France or other country (utility bill).
  • Tax office: change address on your tax account online after moving.
  • Bank: arrange meeting with your bank advisor before moving.

It is important to arrange to forward your mail to your new address on the La Poste website to make sure you do not lose any post once you move.

Please note: if your address is modified (new property number or new village name) you should NOT declare a change of address but only update your existing address by sending each service a copy of the letter that you will have received from the Mairie.

For more information about anything on this Newsletter,
please contact me by email.

Have a great autumn and if I don't speak to you or email you before,
then I will be in touch with my next quarterly Newsletter
in December for my Christmas message.

Regards,
Val

➜ June Newsletter 2024
June Newsletter from ValAssist

Hello Everyone,

After 8 consecutive weeks, the tax form season has finally finished, and I am now back to doing my usual work – lots of translation and assistance with appointments either face to face or by telephone.

Please note that it is still possible to correct your “Avis d’impôts 2024 sur les revenus 2023” form if needed. If you still have some questions, just email me to arrange a telephone call meeting where we can check the information together.

If you need to make any corrections to your declarations, it is still possible to do it online or on paper and my fee for this is 30 euros. Please email me your information.

Note on the Property Declaration (declaration since June 2023):

Please note that the property occupancy declaration that was completed last year was a 'one-off' exercise and should be done again ONLY if you have any modifications to declare (sale of the property, new purchase, new usage, declaration of work finished, change of tenants…etc). You must log into your online tax account and click on the section “biens immobiliers”.
Contact me if you need any assistance with this.

The key question for this quarter:

Do you know the process if you sell your second home in France since Brexit?

If you sell your main residence in France, you will not be subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) under the condition that you fill in French tax forms and provide the Notaire with a copy of your “Avis d’Impôts sur les revenus”. Please note that if your main residence includes a gîte that is rented for part of the year you will have to pay CGT and social contributions on that part of the property only.

If you are not declaring your income in France, your property will be classified as your second home even if you do not own or rent another property.

CGT is due on the profit of your house – ie: the difference between the price at which you bought and the price at which you sell. You can offset works completed by professional companies by providing the Factures (Invoices, not Devis/Quotes). You can ask your Notaire to calculate the amount of CGT you might have to pay before putting your property on the market. Feel free to contact me if you need any help with this.

Since Brexit all UK residents also have to pay for a “tax representative” if the property is sold for more than 150 000 euros, as you are no longer a resident of the EU. This is organised by the Notaire, and the tax representative's fee is based on the value of the property sold. They might require you to provide proof of payments from bank statements as well as all the Factures for any works completed.

Finally, to avoid paying social contributions on capital gains tax, you have to get a certificate from the NHS confirming that you are not part of the French medical system.

For more information on this please contact me by email.
I can provide full assistance and translation with Notaire
when selling your second home in France.

My Office hours:
I will be working normal office hours until the 2nd of August:
Monday to Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 4pm.


*** Val Assist Summer Break from the 5th to 31st of August ***

I wish you all a lovely summer and if you do not require any help before, I will speak to you again in September in the next Newsletter!

Regards,
Val

➜ March Newsletter 2024
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It's that time of year again.....

FRENCH TAX RETURNS 2024 FOR INCOME FROM 2023

If you are resident in France (having a Carte de séjour or Visa since or before 2023) or non-resident with FRENCH rental income, it is that time of year again when you need to prepare your French tax forms with regards to income from 2023 (all income received from January to December 2023). Please carry on reading this email to discover the ways that I can assist you to complete all the forms on your behalf online (or on paper if it is your first tax form).

Please contact me by email to arrange a meeting.

What you must do before our Meeting or Telephone call appointment:
1. Prepare a detailed list of all incomes received from January to December 2023 in France and any other countries (including: state pensions, private pensions, civil service pensions, salary, ME, self-employed income, savings, rental income…etc) and EMAIL ME YOUR TAX INFORMATION FORM 2023. (I will have sent you this form when I confirmed your meeting date and time).

2. Prepare a list of your foreign bank accounts (all Non-French accounts) if not declared before, and indicate if any of them have been opened or closed in 2023. Prepare also your French RIB, if not provided before, (Iban and BIC code) to be included online or to copy onto the paper forms.

3. If you already have an online tax account - check your log in details: You should have a fiscal number (tax number) and a password for the site. Please include these at the top of the tax form.

If you do not already have an online tax account you will need to create one BEFOREHAND on the link below. It is better to create an account online for each person (even if I will only use one account to do the declaration):

Tax Account Creation Link

You will need to know your “Fiscal Number”, “Code Accès en Ligne” and “Revenu Fiscal de reference 2022”. You will find the information on your previous tax forms.

Contact me if you need help with this, I can do it from my computer.

PLEASE NOTE: If this is your first tax declaration:
A first declaration in France is completed on paper (I will have all the forms). You will need to prepare your income received from the date of your arrival in France in 2023 to the 31/12/2023. Once completed, I will email you the forms to print out, sign and take, or post, to your local tax office.
If you left France in 2023 prepare income received between 01/01/23 to the date you left France.

At the time of sending this, the official rate has not been indicated yet by tax offices
Average conversion rate for the year 2023: £1.00 = €1.14

My Costs range from 60 to 100 euros, depending on your situation:
1 income to declare is 60 euros
2 incomes to declare is 70 euros
3 or more incomes to declare is 80 euros
1st declaration on paper forms is 100 euros

I will invoice you by email after the declaration is completed and you can pay by bank transfer (recommended), cheque or cash.

I look forward to hearing from you all shortly.

Regards,
Val

➜ Christmas Newsletter 2023
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Hello Everyone,

After a very wet autumn and all French taxes 2023 now paid, winter is here and it is difficult to believe that this year is already coming to an end. It is now time to think about the New Year to come.

For my last Newsletter of the year, and because I had to assist again with the loss of important documents recently, I would like to remind you all to double check, right after reading this email, that you have copies of your carte de séjour, driving license, passport, car registration, and carte vitale as a hard copy in a file in your house, or scanned onto a computer. If it helps you can forward copies of these documents to me by post or email and I will store them for you in your private file.

And what about all the other French documents that we keep accumulating in our drawers year after year…

The key question for this quarter is:

Do you know how long to keep French documents?

For life: birth certificate, marriage, divorce, pacs certificate, deeds of house, diplomas.
For 10 years: invoices for large work on properties (decennale insurance), life insurance, health insurance claims.
For 5 years: rental contracts, receipts, co-ownership paperwork, bills, bank statements, utility bills, bank accounts closed.
For 3 years: income tax documents complete with all proofs of income, fines.
For 2 years: invoices for small works, insurance documents (contracts, claims), Cpam/Ameli statements.
For 1 year: local taxes, bank card receipts.
Until you get your pension: all work/employment documents

I would also recommend that you keep everything about a property or a car for the whole time that you own them, and through the years you lived in France + 3 years! Feel free to contact me by email if you have any questions about this subject 😊

This should be your first New Year's Resolution: To go through my French paperwork!

In the next Val Assist Newsletter coming in March 2024, you will receive all the information with the dates and places for my annual tax return meetings and calls. (French tax declarations 2024 for income 2023 will have to be submitted between mid-April and early June 2024).

The best way to contact me is always by using this email address; you will receive a confirmation from me that your email has been received and I will reply according to the emergency of your request within the next 5 working days. (Please do not re-send the email before that time).

Val Assist working hours are
Monday to Thursday 9am to 6pm
Friday 9am to 4pm

For emergencies you can use my mobile number +33 684 78 21 57
(If you leave an urgent message at night or weekends, I will call you back ASAP).


Please Note:
I will be taking a Christmas break
from the 22nd of December 2023 to the 7th of January 2024.


I wish you and your family a safe & Merry Christmas
with Positive Wishes for 2024.

Best Regards,
Val
🎄🤶🏻🎄🎅🏼🎄



➜ Newsletter September 2023
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Hello Everyone,
I hope you had a nice summer. After a very intensive work period until the end of July, I enjoyed a lovely break in Portugal in August with family and friends.😊

I'm now back in the office, and for residents in France, this is the time when you receive your “Avis d’impôts 2023 sur les revenus 2022” form, either online or in the post. If you have some questions about the form, I will answer these for free - just email me the tax form that you received and let me know what your concerns are. If you need to do any corrections to your tax declarations - there is still time. It is still possible to make corrections online, or on paper, and my fee for this is 30 euros. Please email me your information.

Taxe Foncière and Taxe Habitation:
It is also the time for all property owners in France (whether you live in France, or not) to receive your Taxe Foncière 2023 statement, due by the 15th of October.
Later, Taxe Habitation 2023 will follow for second home owners ONLY. From 2023, this tax has been abolished for residents of France in their primary residence.

If you have not yet completed the OBLIGATORY Property Declaration 2023 (to declare who is using your property), then there is still time to do this. Email me to receive full information about this process. 

The key question of this quarter: Do you know which law is applicable to your assets on your death ?

Whether you have already made a will, or not; whether you did it in France, or in another country - I would recommend you to have a meeting with your local Notaire to check the status of your will. If French law applies, there will be a “réserve héréditaire” amount going to your children.

A French Notaire will advise what is best for you to do - according to your family situation - in a free meeting. I can call on your behalf to arrange the meeting, and translate the meeting face to face or on a video call.

Please note: Second home owners should NOT have a Carte de Séjour.  If you applied, and received, a Carte de Séjour, you declared that you are a resident of France (not a holiday maker or second home owner) and therefore, you are also fiscally resident in France, and you should complete your annual tax forms in France. You must rectify this situation if you have incorrectly applied. If you would like any more information about any of the subjects in this newsletter, please contact me by email.


My Office hours:
Monday to Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 4pm.

If not before, I will speak to you/email you again in my next quarterly Newsletter in December with my Christmas message.

Have a lovely autumn 😊 Val



➜ Newsletter June 2023
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Hello Everyone,
 
Hurrah! The tax form season has finished and I will now be able to start dealing with all the other emails that I received over the last 6 weeks. Please be patient with me! I will slowly be catching up and will reply to all of you. 😊
 
If I filled in the “Avis d’impôts 2023 sur les revenus 2022” form on your behalf, and you still have some questions, I will answer these for free - just email me to arrange a telephone call meeting where we can check the information together. 

If you need to do any corrections to your declarations, it is still possible to do it online or on paper and my fee for this is 30 euros. Please email me your information.

New Property Declaration 2023 (if not done online with me already):

Please note that if you own a property in France (whether you live in France, or not) you have to complete a property occupancy declaration before the end of June 2023 (This is a 'one-off' exercise if there are no changes to your property in the future). The declaration is very easy to do, and only takes a few minutes if you have an online tax account. 

If you do not have an online account you can create one as a non-resident using the link below :
www.impots.gouv.fr/formulaire-de-creation-dacces-lespace-particulier-non-residents/

Alternatively, you can also visit, call or write to your local tax office to confirm to them who is using the property you own (as of the 01/01/2023). If you need help with any of this my fee is 20 euros.

Please note: it is not possible to change any information indicated online for your property. If the description of your property or the sizes are not correct, you will have to fill in an H1 Form and take it or post it to your local tax office informing them about the changes. Please email me if you need more details and assistance with this.

My Office hours:
I will be working normal office hours until the 28th of July: Monday to Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 4pm.
 
*** Val Assist Summer Break from the 28th July to 27th of August ***
 
Going forward, I will be emailing a Newsletter each quarter to keep you informed and send you any useful information: in March for the tax period, in June before summer break, in September and the last one in December, just before Christmas 😊
 
I wish you all a lovely summer and if you do not require any help before,
 I will speak to you again in September!  
Val

➜ Newsletter April 2023
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FRENCH TAX RETURNS 2023 FOR INCOME FROM 2022
I am sending this newsletter to all of my clients, but if it does not concern you, please ignore it – or pass it on to friends who may find it useful if they need help with their French Tax Returns. It is that time of year again when you need to prepare your French tax forms with regards to income from 2022 (received from January to December 2022).  
Don't Panic! I can help you, and fill in all the forms on your behalf.
What you must do before our Meeting or Telephone call appointment: 1/ Prepare a detailed list of all incomes received from January to December 2022 in France and any other countries (state pensions, private pensions, civil service pensions, salary, ME, self-employed income, savings, rental income, premium bond wins…etc).
  2/ Prepare the list of your foreign bank accounts (all Non-French accounts - including on-line accounts) if not declared before, and indicate if any of them have been opened or closed in 2022. Also prepare your French RIB if not provided before (IBAN and BIC code) to be indicated online or copy with paper forms.
  3/ Check your log in details if you already have an online tax account, these are your fiscal number (tax number) and password. It is better to create an account online for each person (even if I only use one of the accounts to complete the declaration).
4/ EMAIL ME YOUR TAX INFORMATION FORM (I will send you a form to fill in when I confirm your meeting date and time). My Appointment Dates :

I will be available for phone call meetings on the following dates:
  • on the 13th, 14th of April 
  • on the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st of April
  • on the 9th, 15th, 16th, 22nd , 23rd of May

I will be at « Cafe Pause » 26 rue de La Poste in l’Absie (79240):
  • on the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th of May
I will be in at “Café du Prieuré” Mouzeuil St Martin (85370) near the Church:
  • on the 5th, 12th, 26th of May

I will be in the « Café Cour du Miracle » in Vouvant (85120):
  • on the 11th May

Please email me the date that suits you (morning or afternoon). I will then confirm back to you with the time that I am available.
 
My Costs range from 50 to 80 euros, depending on your situation:
  •               1 income to declare is 50 euros
  •               2 incomes to declare is 60 euros
  •               3 incomes to declare is 70 euros
  •               4 or more incomes to declare, 1st declaration on paper forms, or if I do your tax forms for the first time is 80 euros

I will invoice you by email after the declaration is completed and you can pay by bank transfer (recommended), cheque or cash.

How to get your information to me: When confirming our meeting date and time, I will send you a form to fill in to help you with this. Please return the completed form to me by email before your allotted telephone call or meeting. Do You Have An ONLINE TAX ACCOUNT? If you do not already have an account, you will need to create one before our meeting on www.impot.gouv.fr “espace particulier”. You will need to know your “Fiscal Number”, “Code Accès en Ligne” and “Revenu Fiscal de reference 2021”. You will find the information on your previous tax forms. Contact me if you need help with this, I can do it from my computer. NB: If this is your first tax declaration: Your first tax declaration in France is completed on paper (I will have all the forms), you will need to prepare your income received from the date of your arrival in France in 2022 to the 31/12/2022. I will email you the forms filled in to print, sign, and take or post to your local tax office. If you left France in 2022 prepare income received between 01/01/22 to the date you left France.


Average conversion rate for the year 2022: £1.00 = €1.17
(at the time of sending this, the official rate has not been indicated yet by tax offices)
A big thank you to ML Computers for the continued computer support and web assistance to Val Assist. This helps enormously when running my business. Very professional service, I recommend you contact Jason and Annette for any help regarding computer assistance.

Valérie PATARD
1, rue Basse
85370 Mouzeuil-St-Martin
Tél : 00 33 (0)6 84 78 21 57

N° Siret : 488 256 645 00018 - N° APE 748F

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