if I return to France will I be arrested and detained

[mallorcasunshine]

Sorry my 1st post is so negative but I am in need of some advice........


to cut to the chase

we didnt register when we arrived or ever register it now turns out and I didnt file a tax return.

everytime I phone and ask if anyone speaks english the answer is allways non but I thought you had to be well educated to work for the French civil service

our furniture is in storage and I need to go back and collect it.......flying into a French airport and hiring a van on an english credit card!

How much trouble am I in? whats the worst case here.

i have a lot on my mind and am terrified of being arrested and held in jail and I am the the sole carer of my Son who is disabled with profound multiple learning delay

I moved to aix en provence on the 1st of July 2007 and we rented a house through a local estate agent and we opened a french bank account

within a few months we didnt like it far too hot in the summer and the winter mistrals would be depressing these problems mainly affected my 17 year old child who is quadraplegic

dont get me wrong we liked the village we lived in and if things were different we might have stayed and waited longer and hope to turn a corner but....

by November 2007 we were very unhappy and decided we would get xmas out of the way and leave France in Jan 2008.

we gave 3 months notice to quit in Jan 2008 and had a rental lined up in Spain, but they suddenly found a buyer and the deal was off.........weeks went by and without meaning to or wanting to we stayed far too long.

we eventually left France in july 2008

we had our mail redirected to my inlaws in england and went to stay in a centre parcs village in holland while we decided what to do next.

bit by bit mail would be sent on to us and it was mainly utility bills and we paid everything off........

the only thing outstanding as far as I was concerned was the taxe de habitation which was a nightmare because the house we rented was brand new and still being finished when we moved in.....our estate agent said not to worry and that something would come in the post (basically being brand new it had not been assessed for the tax yet)

finally a few weeks back the tax de habitation came through and we paid it.

the only things outstanding in France is our furniture and household effects which are in a shureguard storage depot

we cant afford a removal company and I have no one to turn to for help relocating it from France.

we owe nothing to anyone in France except these two matters and purposefully left a small sum of money in the frnch account to pay any fine that may be due

sorry if I rambled on and thanks for any advice you can give I want to get this sorted out .......I really do

[Alex S.]

I can't say for sure, but I'm inclined to think (at least to hope) that the police here have more important things to be doing than bothering people like you.
Given the absolute lack of response when our car was broken into, the lack of response when my friends handbag was snatched and even when another friend's flat was ransacked and burgled.
Whatever it is that is keeping them too busy to deal with these crimes, I'm sure it is far more important that anything you have done.
From the description of your 'crimes', I wouldn't expect anyting more than a mildly threatening letter from someone who has little better to do with their time. ie, not the police or customs forces.
I don't mean to belittle your crimanal acheivements, but I doubt they'll be offering much of a reward for your capture just yet.
(",)

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by mallorcasunshine

Sorry my 1st post is so negative but I am in need of some advice........


to cut to the chase

we didnt register when we arrived or ever register it now turns out and I didnt file a tax return.

everytime I phone and ask if anyone speaks english the answer is allways non but I thought you had to be well educated to work for the French civil service

our furniture is in storage and I need to go back and collect it.......flying into a French airport and hiring a van on an english credit card!

How much trouble am I in? whats the worst case here.

i have a lot on my mind and am terrified of being arrested and held in jail and I am the the sole carer of my Son who is disabled with profound multiple learning delay

I moved to aix en provence on the 1st of July 2007 and we rented a house through a local estate agent and we opened a french bank account

within a few months we didnt like it far too hot in the summer and the winter mistrals would be depressing these problems mainly affected my 17 year old child who is quadraplegic

dont get me wrong we liked the village we lived in and if things were different we might have stayed and waited longer and hope to turn a corner but....

by November 2007 we were very unhappy and decided we would get xmas out of the way and leave France in Jan 2008.

we gave 3 months notice to quit in Jan 2008 and had a rental lined up in Spain, but they suddenly found a buyer and the deal was off.........weeks went by and without meaning to or wanting to we stayed far too long.

we eventually left France in july 2008

we had our mail redirected to my inlaws in england and went to stay in a centre parcs village in holland while we decided what to do next.

bit by bit mail would be sent on to us and it was mainly utility bills and we paid everything off........

the only thing outstanding as far as I was concerned was the taxe de habitation which was a nightmare because the house we rented was brand new and still being finished when we moved in.....our estate agent said not to worry and that something would come in the post (basically being brand new it had not been assessed for the tax yet)

finally a few weeks back the tax de habitation came through and we paid it.

the only things outstanding in France is our furniture and household effects which are in a shureguard storage depot

we cant afford a removal company and I have no one to turn to for help relocating it from France.

we owe nothing to anyone in France except these two matters and purposefully left a small sum of money in the frnch account to pay any fine that may be due

sorry if I rambled on and thanks for any advice you can give I want to get this sorted out .......I really do

Im a bit confused ... are you saying you are worried about returning because you didn't file a tax return? We arrived in Spain in Oct 2006 and weren't required to file a tax return until May 2008. If you never registered as a resident in France and as far as the French are concerned they dont know if you were actually there for 180 days, I'd say the chances of you being thrown in jail are slim

[mallorcasunshine]

Thanks guys.... sorry about your friends incidents by the way

I have been sent 1 letter dated 7th october 2008 concerning "certification d etat civil"
I assume this is something to do with my status as it asks "Dans notre base informatique votre etat civil est incomplete......pouvez vous preciser votre date de naissance et votre lieu de naissance".......

the other letter sounds more omminous in big bold font it says impot sur le revenue demande de declarartion that one was dated the 9th september 2008

at the bottom it says delai maximum de trente jours

Thanks again

ps the criminal activities joke was good lol

pps in our 2nd week in Spain I paid a gestor to sort out our staus and now have legal staus pheeeew

[mallorcasunshine]

to the 2nd responder yes I am worried about returning to France because we never registered and I didnt file a tax return

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by mallorcasunshine

to the 2nd responder yes I am worried about returning to France because we never registered and I didnt file a tax return

Well, I suspect you are, as they say, under the radar.
There are people here in Spain who have lived here for 5 years and never filed a return or registered

[Bevdeforges]

There isn't really a "registration" in France for residence - certainly not if you have an EU nationality. The tax issue is probably moderately "serious" but honestly they don't track people's comings and goings with anything like the intensity of either the Brits or the Americans.

I got thrown out of France in the midst of my immigration problems - was given 30 days to leave the country, which I didn't do. About two weeks after my 30 days was up I left to go visit my parents in the US. Came back two weeks later and just walked in like the rest of the tourists. (It took another year to get my immigration problems worked out, but at no time did I seem to be under threat of arrest or any sort of detainment.

If you're just coming back to get your stuff out of the storage, I doubt anyone will even question you.

You may want to look into filing the stupid tax return. Chances are you may not even owe much if anything in the way of taxes. (Something like 50% of the French population files a tax return without having to pay anything.) Filing it late will probably involve some penalties (but the main one is 10% for the late filing, and 10% of nothing is still nothing).

Oh, and forget about finding any fonctionnaires who admit to speaking English. You're lucky to have found any who answer the phones. Normally, they expect you to come in and see them in person - and to speak French when you do.
Cheers,
Bev

[parsnips]

Originally Posted by mallorcasunshine

to the 2nd responder yes I am worried about returning to France because we never registered and I didnt file a tax return

Hi,
Regarding tax return,it is not likely to be a problem unless you have a very large income,(over approx. 22000€ p.a. ) as you would at most be liable on 6 mths income in each of the years you were here.
Penalty for late filing is an increase in the tax due---if no tax due, no penalty.

[Alex S.]

Also, I was told that the reason all the heroin users have dogs is so that the police won't arrest them for carrying drugs. Apparently the law requires the police to take care of the dog if they arrest the owner.
So given that, if you have children to look after, I really can't imagine them wanting to cause you any inconvenience as long as you haven't done anything too serious.

[fonclea]

I don't think you'll be in troubles.
You don't have the need or enter in contact with any administrations in the future so you can come. Nobody will arest you at the airport.