Yet another new tax to be voted on in July

Here is a report from The French Paper that a new draft law was unveiled on Wednesday that could introduce a new tax for non French tax house owners.

Basically it is looking to cut out the loop hole which allows home owners to declare and pay taxes in the country they are resident in which means that the French government miss out.

Now, we have recently had to start paying a 'Tourist Tax' which is, put simply, anyone who stays at La Pagerie should be taxed for each night that they stay with the odd exception. We are unable to increase the cost of the rental weeks to cover this extra tax so we end up paying for it.

With this new tax it is thought that it will be 20% of the 'base' value of your property which in our case will be an extra 400€ to 500€ per annum.

Add onto this the other taxes (d'habitation, fonciéres, taxe de sejour) then we will be looking at an annual tax bill of 3,500€ before any other cost.

Voting on this bill is in July 2011 - personally I am keeping my fingers crossed for a no vote but I am fully expecting a yes vote!

France looks to reduce road deaths

There has recently been a huge increase in the number of deaths on French roads and the French government is determined to improve traffic safety.

As a result, expect to see far more police as you travel through France and be aware they will be looking for a whole host of offences!

Part of the move to reduce the number of deaths includes the following new policies

1) Removing speed radar camera warning signs

2) Clamping down on the usage of mobile phones whilst driving

3) 1,000 new radar sights by the end of 2012

4) The banning of screens in the drivers field of vision (beware of your sat nav being in the wrong place)

5) Motorcyclists must wear reflective jackets and have larger index plates

You have been warned!!