Recommendation for Fiscal Representative

[ColourRestorer]

Last week we decided to sell our house in Correze, and amazingly have got a buyer signed up already.

Being non-resident, we need to appoint a Fiscal Representative to handle the potential CGT liability, otherwise the Notaire will appoint one for us.

In advance of that happening, has anyone on here used a Fiscal Representative who they would be happy to recommend?

Thanks

[Fatt McMissile]

The latest Connexion has a piece on this here https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Practical/...

[ColourRestorer]

To close this subject off in the hope that it may be of benefit others:

The system is a complete rip off - in our case there was clearly no French tax payable after our sale, but none the less we still had to pay to engage the services of a Fiscal Rep.

Regarding the choice of company: the only recommendation I received was from the Notaire who wanted us to use her preferred company, from whom she presumably gets a backhander. They wanted 1000€ so I searched around for likely companies and in the end settled for French Tax Online in Marseilles ( https://www.frenchtaxonline.com ) who quoted 750€.

They completed a couple of forms which they exchanged with the French equivalent to HMRC, and then once engrossed sent these to the Notaire confirming that she could pay us the entire sum realised from the house sale without the need to withhold any tax.

It wasn't a complicated process, so 750€ is a bit steep, but at least it all went smoothly and quickly, and the house sale completed yesterday.

[TarquinMX5]

Interesting; thanks for posting.

[Magooagain]

ColourRestorer said:

To close this subject off in the hope that it may be of benefit others:

The system is a complete rip off - in our case there was clearly no French tax payable after our sale, but none the less we still had to pay to engage the services of a Fiscal Rep.

Regarding the choice of company: the only recommendation I received was from the Notaire who wanted us to use her preferred company, from whom she presumably gets a backhander. They wanted 1000€ so I searched around for likely companies and in the end settled for French Tax Online in Marseilles ( https://www.frenchtaxonline.com ) who quoted 750€.

They completed a couple of forms which they exchanged with the French equivalent to HMRC, and then once engrossed sent these to the Notaire confirming that she could pay us the entire sum realised from the house sale without the need to withhold any tax.

It wasn't a complicated process, so 750€ is a bit steep, but at least it all went smoothly and quickly, and the house sale completed yesterday.

Thanks for the info and congratulations.
As its now after Brexit and I'm presuming you are a uk resident,was there no kind of tax pay wether you made profit or not?

I ask as I thought there was going to be some sort of percentage charge on Brit owned holiday home sales since Brexit.

[Rushjob]

Magooagain said:

Thanks for the info and congratulations.
As its now after Brexit and I'm presuming you are a uk resident,was there no kind of tax pay wether you made profit or not?

I ask as I thought there was going to be some sort of percentage charge on Brit owned holiday home sales since Brexit.

Depends on how long you've owned the property, there's a sliding scale that reduces the liability the longer you've owned it for second homes.
At 22 years you have no CGT liability and at 30 years you have zero liability for social charges.

[Magooagain]

Rushjob said:

Magooagain said:

Thanks for the info and congratulations.
As its now after Brexit and I'm presuming you are a uk resident,was there no kind of tax pay wether you made profit or not?

I ask as I thought there was going to be some sort of percentage charge on Brit owned holiday home sales since Brexit.

Depends on how long you've owned the property, there's a sliding scale that reduces the liability the longer you've owned it for second homes.
At 22 years you have no CGT liability and at 30 years you have zero liability for social charges.

Thanks but I wasn't thinking about CGT.
I thought that I read somewhere about a Brexit punishment type of tax for Brit holiday home owners when they sell up.

I probably dreamt it.

[ColourRestorer]

Magooagain said:

Thanks for the info and congratulations.
As its now after Brexit and I'm presuming you are a uk resident,was there no kind of tax pay whether you made profit or not?
I ask as I thought there was going to be some sort of percentage charge on Brit owned holiday home sales since Brexit.

Yes, we're UK residents, so as others have said there was French CGT and Social Tax to pay, or rather there would have been, but we just about broke even after estate agent's fees and purchase taxes were taken into account.

There's also English CGT to consider because we bought the house when the Pound was much stronger than it is today, so overall we made a slight profit.

Magooagain said:

Thanks but I wasn't thinking about CGT.
I thought that I read somewhere about a Brexit punishment type of tax for Brit holiday home owners when they sell up.
I probably dreamt it.

I seem to remember proposals for this a few years ago, but it never happened.

Edited by ColourRestorer on Thursday 4th August 07:08

[Rushjob]

Magooagain said:

Thanks but I wasn't thinking about CGT.
I thought that I read somewhere about a Brexit punishment type of tax for Brit holiday home owners when they sell up.

I probably dreamt it.

I don't think you'd be wrong IMHO to suggest that the requirement to use and pay for a fiscal rep is in fact another stealth tax courtesy of the B word that keeps on giving.......