Living and trading in France

K

Kicking

I would be very grateful to all the France-based traders to fill me in on the peculiarities of their tax system particularly pertaining to CG tax for futures traders and the status a home based futures trader has vis-a-vis the tax authorities.Is a home based trader a professional (thus taxed on his income) and would such person have to pay social security taxes? If I make between 15K -20K euros what would be my tax rate and my social security taxes? It seems there is an almost infinite number of taxes in France , what other taxes would such person have to pay?

I am only interested in living in the South of France, I believe I can rent a flat for 500 euros on the coast which probably would be MUCH better than what I get in the UK . Ideal area would be somewhat cosmopolitan and with all modern conveniences (broadband and cable TV widely available, good shopping for computer stuff, books, clothes i.e. US- style mall conveniently located with Carrefour, FNAC, Gap etc. you get the picture) . You can PM me in French if you 'd like.


Cheers!
 
I would be interested in that info as well. The south of France has to be one of the best places to live, so long as one has money and can bypass or pay as little tax as possible. The phone system really sucks in France so one would have to have a very reliable internet connection. I was in Nice, which I love, and this internet cafe had really fast internet. Must have had at least 40 computers. I asked and was told " high output DSL"
 
Intersting thread.
There is a russian version somewhere.
I post now, so I can follow by email notification.

Good luck,

Ken
 
I'm in southern france right now... I'm here several times a year. My favorite place is St Tropez and that's where I'm right now. Besides that Cannes is also very nice... a good mixture between cosmopolitan and vacation city. Nice then is a larger city with its own international airport. Monaco is ugly but good for tax reasons. Other cities like Marseilles, Toulon and others towards the spanish boarder are more industrial cities.. higher criminal rate. Cannes and Nice have high real estate prices but I believe depending on your living standard you will be able to find a studio for that price. Unfortunately maybe not with a view on the meditarenain. :)

By the way right now it's 35C° and blue sky... and July and August are the worst month down here because of the many tourists... best time is May, June and late August and September. February and March are great for sports such as cycling and sailing.
 
Regarding taxes, you should first check the tax treaties between your country and France. This is the first thing to do.

If you have to file in France, you may choose different options, obviously you are a professional trader, so trying to get the marginal rate is not advised (1 because the tax dept can choose to still tax you as a pro, and do this up to 5 years later, 2 because it may not be your advantage).
A pro usually files as BNC (benefices non commerciaux),
you deduct everything relating to your activity (ie : part of the rent , connectivity, platform fees, computers (amortized), part of the phone bills, educational material and so on) and then submit the result as your income. With 15-20KE before expenses, I am not sure you have to pay at all (I did not experiment this bracket myself).
Another point is your family status, taxes are household based and extremely favorable to families.
So, if you have kids, that might be a point for you.
(actually in this case, you will probably have the state pay a part of your rent and pay some hundred euros per months for the kids).
This is for what regards the individual trader, trading in his name.
Everything is quite simple in this situation.

Now, if you trade through a company you create (EURL,SARL if associated, SA, so on...) things will be a helluva lot more complicated, and you will need to hire an accountant or ask an help or something).

Then, as I said, first thing is to check reciprocity agreements between countries. If you are a UK citizen, trade in France through a US LP, you may have to pay your taxes to the US.

So all of this is a complicated matter, and it would be difficult to give any kind of answer really helpfull, because everything is so dependent on specificities.


OHLC


Disclaimer : I am a trader, not a darn accountant or taxman :D
 
Quote from Kicking:


I am only interested in living in the South of France, I believe I can rent a flat for 500 euros on the coast which probably would be MUCH better than what I get in the UK . Ideal area would be somewhat cosmopolitan and with all modern conveniences (broadband and cable TV widely available, good shopping for computer stuff, books, clothes i.e. US- style mall conveniently located with Carrefour, FNAC, Gap etc. you get the picture) . You can PM me in French if you 'd like.
More...


Regarding the flats you can check a few examples here
http://www.seloger.com/recherche.ht...cp=&ci=060088&cp=&ci=830119&cp=&ci=060030&cp=

The search is in your price range and concerns the places that it might be nice to live in (Nice,Le Cannet,Cannes,St-Tropez)
You can get much cheaper and better by going a bit deeper in the country.
BTW, the phone systems, electricity and so on are probably the most reliable in the world here... you can get anything anywere and should not be in a city only for this reason.
(this is why France now receives more foreign investment than any other country in OCDE (including the US)).
Stay away of Marseilles Toulon, or any other city like that.
BTW, even if you want to be in a high life place, you have to check your budget... The order is 1 Nice 2 Cannes 3 Monaco.
Monaco being the more expensive and Nice the least.
A good dinner on a Croissette restaurant in Cannes is about 100Euros per person. This is why it might be a good idea to be a bit outside of the cities, the smaller places around can be also extremy enjoyable.




OHLC

BTW : I am a trader, not a darn real estate agent or tourist guide :D
 
OHLC. Thanks for your answers, interesting indeed. Whats the current charge for DSL per month in Nice right now.
 
I have spoken to several Americans who have been in Paris in the last few weeks and were finding a lot of difficulty getting served as soon as the french found out where they were from.
 
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