In France there are two property taxes to pay – Taxe d’Habitation and Taxe Foncière – both are forms of a council tax. The Taxe Foncière is payable by property owners – whether they live in the property or not. The Taxe d’Habitation is payable by the residents of the property – whether they own [...]
There are two property taxes to pay when you have a French property – the Taxe Foncière and the Taxe d’Habitation. The Taxe Foncière is the responsibility of the owners of a property. The Taxe d’Habitation is the responsibility of the occupiers of a property – whether they own or rent. Payment of the Taxe [...]
Welcome to Pure FX’s monthly update of the euro exchange rate - 03.05.2013 Best time to exchange pounds to euros since January 24th, or 14 weeks The pound reached its highest point against the euro in 14 weeks at the end of April, or since January 24th, at 1.1908. To put this into context, sterling was [...]
If you become resident in France you’ll need to consider your healthcare options. The French National Health service is very highly rated but it is not free. You may be eligible to join the French national health service insurance scheme for expatriates called CMU (Couverture Maladie Universelle ). For the great majority this is certainly [...]
Voluntary health insurance in France or as it is often called “top-up” is an insurance policy which goes towards the cover of healthcare costs for residents registered for state healthcare. In order to apply for top-up insurance, first you must register with the State health service. For British expats who are covered by a UK [...]
“Top-up/Voluntary insurance in France is an insurance policy which provides for reimbursement of medical costs in addition to the State insurance fund. How much additional reimbursement you get depends on what level of cover you pay for. Finding the right voluntary (called “top-up”) insurance provider isn’t that easy in France. There is such a wide [...]
When it comes to currency exchange, we all have lots of questions – we want to know how to get the best rate and how to make our money work for us. So to help you here are the answers to some of the most common questions about currency exchange: Will currency exchange rates really [...]
There are always lots of questions when you consider exchanging one currency for another – what’s best for you, how to get the best deal for your money and many more such issues. We give you the answers to the most frequently asked questions about foreign exchange. We are having a house built in France. [...]
When Rod and Linda decided to retire to France in 2004, they thought that they would be well off and live a comfortable life with their monthly pensions and being able to buy a house outright – meaning no mortgage. In 2004 they were able to get just over €1.4 to £1.00, petrol was at [...]
The answers to five common questions about banking in France: How do I write a cheque/check out in France? Always write it in French (it is surprisingly easy to forget) and remember that in France a full stop/point is used to mark the thousands, while a comma (virgule) separates the cents: one thousand Euros [...]
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Well, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that the sheep across the road has gone to the great pasture in the sky. When I bought my house nine years ago it came with a sheep! The lady who owned the house before me had let the man across the road [...]
The allure of the good life in France and the charms of the beautiful town of Beziers ensnared British expat Mark Binmore who runs the highly successful Maison de l’Orb, a beautiful B&B. Mark told us that he lived in London since the early 1990s, worked as a pub landlord for several breweries, is the [...]
Expats in France Donna and Dave Faulkner fell in love with Deux-Sevres in the Poitou-Charentes region when they visited friends who lived there. When Dave was unexpectedly offered a job – they said goodbye to Britain and jumped head first into life in France in their new home which needed a bit of renovation as [...]
British expat Sue Aitken lives in south west France and runs Blackhen Education – a business that she set up after planning to move to Spain to be a teacher. She and her partner travelled through France on their way to jobs and a life in Spain but they fell in love with [...]
How two Brits met and changed their lives with a move to France… Chris was a veteran of 30 years in the Metropolitan police, running his own outdoor activity business specializing in mountain biking, walking and climbing, father to three grown-up children and mentor to many more. Charlotte was a classic single “Social Butterfly”, [...]
I was recently asked to write about expats in France, people who leave their homes in all areas of the world to go to France to live. I thought back over the years about the many expats I’ve met, interviewed (I am a journalist not just a crazy person going round firing questions at [...]
It’s good to know some things stay the same When my mother bought her holiday house in northern France 35 years ago, I had no idea how large a part this lovely country was going to play in my life. I was eleven at the time, and simply enjoyed the trips across the Channel [...]
As you might know by now, I cannot resist a French flea market and the one I went to on Sunday on my French countryside jaunt was particularly small and not great but on the last stall in the road there was a cage with a cockerel. The sign said “Cockerel Nagasaki €5.00”. The [...]
