Inside France: Paris' in-Seine plan and the adventures of wax Macron
Loopholes
Can you really have the butter and the money to buy the butter,
as the French say?
Anti-fraud officers used to use the phrase 'if it seems too good to be true, it probably is' as a way to warn people about scams, and I think we need to create a new version of this - 'with French admin, there are no loopholes'.
While it's possible to benefit from gaps in the French residency and tax system, almost without fail, this ends up causing further problems down the line. For example, if you claim French residency while really being a second-home owner, you'll find yourself ensnared by the tax requirements for French residents. Conversely keeping yourself as a non-resident in order to avoid French taxes means that you won't see any of the benefits that French residents enjoy.
Here at The Local we often deal with people who have found themselves in a French admin tangle by trying to exploit some loophole - in almost all cases it's simply not worth the hassle.
That's not to say that there aren't aspects of the French system that are genuinely confusing, contradictory or a legal grey area - one of these is remote working for foreigners, although this became a little clearer this week after
clarification from the French tax office
.
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What you need to know about remote working in France
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Talking France
We discuss how to move to France as a remote worker in a way that won't create residency or tax problems on this week's Talking France podcast, plus smoking on café terraces and how Uber changed France (via an anecdote about a foul-mouthed Courtney Love tirade to president François Hollande). Listen
here
or on the link below.
Good goddess
Paris city hall announced this week that it is
seeking 'legal personhood' for the River Seine
. While this might sound like an in-seine idea (sorry), it is part of a coordinated international environmental campaign to gain more protection for natural sites.
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It's an interesting plan, although not certain to succeed - but let's not forget that the Seine already has a personification. Remember the rider on the ghostly horse galloping down the Seine during the Olympics opening ceremony last summer? That was Sequana, the goddess of the river. I hope she approves of the
mairie
's plan.
Floriane Issert, a Gendarmerie non-commissioned officer of the National Gendarmerie, rides on a metal horse up the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
And talking of rivers, Paris in fact has not one but two - although the other is underground. The Bièvre river was covered over in the 19th century, mostly because it had become so polluted it was judged a health hazard, but
there are plans
, albeit at an early stage, to open it up again.
Skulls, beer and a river: Discover the secrets of underground Paris
Kidnap victim
Also in France this week we've been following with amusement the kidnapping of president Emmanuel Macron. In case that sounds slightly flippant, it was actually
his waxwork that was snatched
from the Musée Grévin, Paris' equivalent to Madame Tussauds.
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Wax Macron joined a protest at the Russian Embassy and then popped up protesting outside the Edf headquarters before his kidnappers - who turned out to be Greenpeace activists -
returned him safely
to the museum. No ransom was demanded - and it might have been an expensive one since wax Macron is apparently worth €40,000, due to his painstaking and labour-intensive production methods.
The wax statue of French President Emmanuel Macron was delivered back to the Grevin Museum in a flight case. Photo by Xavier GALIANA / AFP
Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
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