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8 Posts
Since my first post is a cry for help, let me start of by thanking all the generous people here who share their knowledge and experience. Although just registered, I’ve been reading many of your posts over the last several months and they’ve helped us avoid or streamline a number of sticky situations, so I’m already very grateful to you all.
Quick background: We’re US residents (for now) who just bought a secondary residence near Uzès. We created an SCI (no children, no renters so no income) on our attorney’s advice due to the French inheritance laws.
Back in November the notaire assured us they could set up a French bank account for the SCI, but at the last minute informed us they were unable to pull it off. Due to a personal situation we were unable to stay more than 2 weeks after the purchase signing session. As you know, it’s impossible to set up most services without a French bank account and phone number, so we spent the entirety of the two weeks jumping through hoops to get bank, phone, and services taken care of (despite my very rusty French and ignorance of the rules and bureaucracy).
It all came together on the last 2 days (whew!) and we’ll be back in May to pick up where we left off. However our lead for a comptable ghosted us and we had no time to find another one. Bad timing because we know there are some imminent deadlines.
Quick background: We’re US residents (for now) who just bought a secondary residence near Uzès. We created an SCI (no children, no renters so no income) on our attorney’s advice due to the French inheritance laws.
Back in November the notaire assured us they could set up a French bank account for the SCI, but at the last minute informed us they were unable to pull it off. Due to a personal situation we were unable to stay more than 2 weeks after the purchase signing session. As you know, it’s impossible to set up most services without a French bank account and phone number, so we spent the entirety of the two weeks jumping through hoops to get bank, phone, and services taken care of (despite my very rusty French and ignorance of the rules and bureaucracy).
It all came together on the last 2 days (whew!) and we’ll be back in May to pick up where we left off. However our lead for a comptable ghosted us and we had no time to find another one. Bad timing because we know there are some imminent deadlines.
- We know the registration of beneficial owners is due by 1 April. We received a document via post titled “Registre des bénéficiaires effectifs” issued by the local Greffe and signed and stamped by “Le Greffier”. Does this mean it’s already taken care of, or is there some other statement regarding beneficiaries we need to file by 1 April?
- The woman looking after the house in our absence sent us a scan of a letter from the French government’s Finances Publiques encouraging us to enroll on impots.gouv.fr, along with a questionnaire about our “business” that must be returned by 2 April. The questionnaire looks straightforward (contact info, characteristics of the premises, very basic questions about the “business”) but I’m terrified of making a mistake that will cause tax or regulatory problems down the road. Should I risk filling this out myself, or find help?
- I’m hoping not to deal with tax filings before we return in May and find a comptable and/or visit a tax office. Since the house purchase and SCI creation took place in 2023, the SCI doesn’t have to file tax returns for 2022, correct? And we don’t have to worry about the taxe foncière until later in the year?
- Perhaps most importantly, can anyone recommend a comptable in the Montpellier/Nîmes/Avignon area (or even Marseille), preferably one who speaks English and has a measure of patience for inexperienced foreigners?
