Hello all,
Our French accountant has totally let us down and now we have had conflicting advise from the French Embassy in the UK.
We have a furnished apartment which we bought in 2005 and first let in 2006. Our accountant told us we had to submit a tax return for 2005 in order to be able to offset expenses from that year once income started. The French Embassy said they did not believe this was correct. All we had to do was declare our income in any one year and we could claim back 72% for costs - without any receipts.

We are also hoping to buy on off-plan property this year, which will not complete until 2008 and which we will let unfurnished. The Embassy said there were similar rules for that, although the amount we could claim back was only 40%.

They also said that the form was so simple we did not need an accountant and could easily fill it in ourselves, provided we had a reasonable level of French.

Can anyone advise on these matters, as it now looks as if we are paying the French accountant for doing next to nothing.
Thanks

Hi Alexander,
Tax system in France is very complicated and it is better to contact several people in order to know the best trick to avoid paying to much tax.
You can contact an English solicitor which is an expert in the French property field: John Howell on europelaw.com.
You will have to pay a fee to them but at least they know how it works for an English family who wish to buy or let a property in France.
Hope it works.
Keep in touch