IT’S NOT ALL A BED OF ROSES….

As I’ve alluded in the past, while beautiful in so many ways, France is not always a bed of roses….

First, there is the bureaucracy. I’ve defended it as far as the visa and immigration process is concerned because it all makes sense. France has every right to insure that people wanting to live here as permanent residents – me included – are healthy and have sufficient resources to live independently so that they do not become dependent upon the state.

As far as financial resources are concerned, they don’t ask for that much. They just want to know one has a steady income stream with a minimum of 14,400 euros annually for a single person (an equivalent of about US$16,300 in today’s dollars) and enough backing to see them through any crisis.

Next, they require that one has a place to live, rented or owned.

Finally, they also ask for a health insurance policy to cover any issues until one gets into the national health care program. Anyone living in France with the designation of citizen or permanent resident qualifies for this health care after being here three months. There is a cost, of course, but exactly what this will be for me has yet to be determined.

Once funding, health insurance and housing have all been satisfactorily documented, your visa is usually approved.

The Contribution Sociale Généralisée (social tax) covers things like health care and is calculated at 8% of net income reported on tax returns. I don’t know yet what my social tax will be because rumor has it that there are some things not included in the calculation. I heard, for example, that Social Security, pensions, etc. are deducted. But there are conflicting stories. The bill doesn’t come in until after the second year, so stay tuned.

The people who work within government have a mixed reputation. Part of it, I think, is the work ethic. People don’t live to work. They work to live. They put in their time and don’t often have a customer orientation such as we are used to seeing in the US. This is especially true of the bureaucrats!

Let me give you a recent example.

I concluded the purchase of my home in November 2018. The whole process is long and a bit complicated, mostly having to do with French inheritance law. The buyer engages a notaire who is a respected legal professional representing the French government. The notaire researches ownership and inheritances to insure the property is free and clear of any ownership claims. Once completed, in usually between three and six months, the notaire also documents the sale in the official registries. For their services, the buyer pays a fee of 8% of the sale price.

My notaire, based in Toulouse, was delightful to deal with. He registered the sale within two weeks of purchase. But for some reason the government didn’t acknowledge the sale and update its records of ownership.

When it came time to send out tax bills ten months later in September 2019, one of the two taxes paid, the Tax Foncière, was sent to the previous owner in England. He advised me via email and forwarded a scanned copy so I could pay it. Assuming I was doing the right thing, I mailed in a letter explaining that I was the new owner with a copy of the sales contract and a check for the amount due. Wrong!

Last November, I visited the tax office in Carcassonne 20 minutes away to advise of this issue, but also because I hadn’t received the second tax bill, the Tax d’Habitation. (I still haven’t!) The very impatient official emphatically said I never should have paid the Tax Foncière – without really saying why – but, shaking her head, said she would straighten it out. I would probably hear from them by January.

With their records updated, the tax bill was reissued in my name in February, 2020. However, they didn’t update my mailing address and must have sent the written notice to my previous address in Atlanta. So in May when I went online to begin the process of filing my income taxes in France (another requirement after the first year here). I saw an email message on my French tax account website alerting me that I still owed the tax. I assumed this was a mistake as I had made the payment in October 2019.

My French accountant subsequently submitted a message to the French tax department explaining the situation. They responded at the end of June by saying they had refunded payment to the previous owner and it was MY responsibility to collect it from him and pay the bill AGAIN! Go figure!

Because the tax invoice was in the previous owner’s name, they didn’t credit the tax bill. Apparently, one doesn’t pay an invoice that is not in one’s name. It was surprising to me that the government didn’t simply accept payment. In my opinion, it shouldn’t matter who pays it!

It was also very surprising to learn that rather than returning my check, they ignored my letter, deposited the check, then later issued a refund to the previous owner. But this is France.

Long story short, the previous owner came through last week sending me the funds. When I went online to pay the Tax Foncière for the second time, I found a penalty charge of 10% for late payment. I have a telephone appointment with the tax office in Carcasonne July 20 to discuss this and request the penalty be erased. I tried to do the right thing last October. But the bureaucracy is a bit rigid and they only play by their puzzling rules. Fingers crossed.

Aside from bureaucratic dealings, the second issue is getting work done on one’s home in France. I was reminded by one of my friends that this was a major theme in the books of Peter Mayle, A Year in Provence probably being his most famous.

It’s true. I have spent hours identifying plumbers, woodworkers, heating specialists and contractors to get jobs done and waited months for their estimates. More often than not, I never hear from them. This is common. I’m told it is because people don’t want to work that hard. If they have enough to keep them busy, they let things slide. So the best craftsmen are tough to line up.

And then there is the issue of securing a French driving license! But I’ll let both subjects be topics of future postings.

Bottom line, Americans romanticize France in a big way. They visit all starry-eyed and feel that life is PERFECT. It’s almost like they’re high. I see it all the time now that I am here.

I have romanticized too, and still sometimes do.

To be fair, there is a lot here that is truly amazing.

La politesse – the politeness in societal interactions – is very impressive and endearing. How often in the US do you have children greeting you as you walk past them? People are genuinely polite. This is ingrained from a very early age.

There are subtleties and aspects of the culture that are unique and definitely mind-blowing. But no place is perfect. If one can get past these irritations, life is very good in France. There are countless reasons it ranks among the best countries in the world in which to live.

I have learned that I just have to let the frustration go and do what is required but not ruminate. Things eventually work themselves out. You have to have a lot of patience. But the French attitude of “Non, non, non!” is prevalent and usually the first response. Only after a little time might they change their minds and come around. The French like debate and apparently a bit of conflict too. It’s built into their DNA.