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I have found a house to rent in France and it is managed by the estate agent. They have told me that, by law, I need aa French bank acct. I already have a Euro acct in Switzerland as well as one in Germany and see no need to pay more bank fees.
Is it true that I am required by law to have one?

 

[Lost in Traduction]

I have found a house to rent in France and it is managed by the estate agent. They have told me that, by law, I need aa French bank acct. I already have a Euro acct in Switzerland as well as one in Germany and see no need to pay more bank fees.
Is it true that I am required by law to have one?

Even if it wasn't law I doubt any French estate agent would consider you without. If you are going to be resident you'll need one anyway so that the French government can sequester any funds due for income and taxe d'habitation etc. should you decide not to pay within a reasonable time.

Good Luck

 

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I will be a Frontalier so my income tax will be paid i Switzerland still but I will have to pay the taxe d'habitation

It just seemed an odd thing to have to have to me. I told the agent that I wllbe paying the rent out of another acct but she insisted even if I don't use the account I still need it

Not really a problem but just wanted to check if it was correct what she said.

any ideas on who offers free accounts?

 

[lebesset]

I will be a Frontalier so my income tax will be paid i Switzerland still but I will have to pay the taxe d'habitation

It just seemed an odd thing to have to have to me. I told the agent that I wllbe paying the rent out of another acct but she insisted even if I don't use the account I still need it

Not really a problem but just wanted to check if it was correct what she said.

any ideas on who offers free accounts?

try an on line account .....Fortuneo for example ...even a free cash card so that you can get money from any cash machine in the eurozone

 

[Bevdeforges]

Another factor in the "must have a French bank account" is that many landlords want to have a standing order where they can take the rent directly from your account rather than having to wait for you to pay them. It's not worth it to them to have to figure out how to do something like that across national borders.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[Lost in Traduction]

I will be a Frontalier so my income tax will be paid i Switzerland still but I will have to pay the taxe d'habitation

It just seemed an odd thing to have to have to me. I told the agent that I wllbe paying the rent out of another acct but she insisted even if I don't use the account I still need it

Not really a problem but just wanted to check if it was correct what she said.

any ideas on who offers free accounts?

It depends where in Switzerland you work. If working in Basel and some border cantons for example you pay tax in France if you live in France whether you like it or not, depending on family situation it's not always a big disadvantage.

I too am a Frontalier, commuting daily and paying my income tax in Zürich. Even if you work in Zürich, Geneva or similar canton, you will still have to fill in the Income tax form next year if you are classed as resident this year. Also any almost all other world-wide income you have that's not Swiss wages, e.g Pension, savings interest, UK income from rent or whatever will need to be declared and will have a tax levied.

You will also have the choice of joining the French health care system, usually within 3 months of deciding to reside in France. If you don't expect to reside in France long term I wouldn't worry but there are moves afoot to make health care decisions long term and binding for all frontaliers.

Many banks will give you up to a year free banking with luck.

Good Luck

 

[stum]

Another factor in the "must have a French bank account" is that many landlords want to have a standing order where they can take the rent directly from your account rather than having to wait for you to pay them. It's not worth it to them to have to figure out how to do something like that across national borders.
Cheers,
Bev

Thanks Bev. That makes sense really. If i was a landlord taking the moneyvia direct debit is safest, but doesnt mean you get paid if the acct is empty anyway. I was taken aback when the estate agent said it ws by law and it seemed she was just saying that to avoid me saying no

 

[stum]

It depends where in Switzerland you work. If working in Basel and some border cantons for example you pay tax in France if you live in France whether you like it or not, depending on family situation it's not always a big disadvantage.

I too am a Frontalier, commuting daily and paying my income tax in Zürich. Even if you work in Zürich, Geneva or similar canton, you will still have to fill in the Income tax form next year if you are classed as resident this year. Also any almost all other world-wide income you have that's not Swiss wages, e.g Pension, savings interest, UK income from rent or whatever will need to be declared and will have a tax levied.

You will also have the choice of joining the French health care system, usually within 3 months of deciding to reside in France. If you don't expect to reside in France long term I wouldn't worry but there are moves afoot to make health care decisions long term and binding for all frontaliers.

Many banks will give you up to a year free banking with luck.

Good Luck

I worl in geneva so have been told i paytax at source in switzerland even tho i fill a french tax return in each yr. my colleague does this and said he did so and pays no tax in france , just in gva deducted st source.

Regarding the health ins, im privately insured in gva currently and have been told i can keep this and thus not be affected by the changes afoot?

 

[umstrum]

Bank account

I don't think it's a legal requirement to have a French bank account, cause in theory now you can do everything within the EU with a Euro bank account. that's the whole point of having a single currency and using IBAN for international transactions..
anyway, i suppose estate agents are just stuck in their old ways...

 

[stum]

That is what i thought exactly

 

[Lost in Traduction]

I worl in geneva so have been told i paytax at source in switzerland even tho i fill a french tax return in each yr. my colleague does this and said he did so and pays no tax in france , just in gva deducted st source.

Regarding the health ins, im privately insured in gva currently and have been told i can keep this and thus not be affected by the changes afoot?

That's right if you have no other "worldly income" you won't receive a tax bill from France, though I think they'll use the info on the French tax form to calculate your taxe d'hab. If you ever did switch to French health care your info on the French tax return would be used to calculate that also.

I guess you're paying withholding tax in Geneva but you can still fill in a tax form to claim back marriage allowance,travel expenses (car/train etc) and some other expenses too. As Geneva is relatively highly taxed, it's probably well worth while though it can take some time to process (up to 18 months in Zürich).

Apologies if you already had this info.

Take care

 

[Lost in Traduction]

That's right if you have no other "worldly income" you won't receive a tax bill from France, though I think they'll use the info on the French tax form to calculate your taxe d'hab. If you ever did switch to French health care your info on the French tax return would be used to calculate that also.

I guess you're paying withholding tax in Geneva but you can still fill in a tax form to claim back marriage allowance,travel expenses (car/train etc) and some other expenses too. As Geneva is relatively highly taxed, it's probably well worth while though it can take some time to process (up to 18 months in Zürich).

Apologies if you already had this info.

Take care

I mean a Swiss tax form of course (Quellensteuere for me, not sure what the Swiss French version is)