Expat Advice: Financial Issues in Normandy, France

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Normandy

Which banks do you use? If you have a local account, which bank do you use? How do you like it? Do you also have an account in your home country? Which bank? Do they charge for ATM withdrawals? Do they charge a lot for international wire transfers? How has it been working with them from abroad? Do you use a special international wire transfer service? Do you use an online bank? If so, tell us about them.

Initially yes. Because of our unfamiliarity with French banking when we moved from UK we used Credit Agricloe's Britline service - it offers all services in English (apart from its legal documentation, which is in legal French). But I now have a business account with BNP Paribas, and a mortgage account with Societe Generale. I've kept the Britline one though.

French Riviera House Hunting - FRH
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We are the best possible negotiator to help our expatriate clients to safely, efficiently and effectively find the right property in the right place in the French Riviera. Whether buying or renting, French Riviera House Hunting's objective is to find the best place for you, making sure that there are no hidden problems in the acquisition or renting process!

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French Riviera House Hunting - FRH

We are the best possible negotiator to help our expatriate clients to safely, efficiently and effectively find the right property in the right place in the French Riviera. Whether buying or renting, French Riviera House Hunting's objective is to find the best place for you, making sure that there are no hidden problems in the acquisition or renting process!
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Click connect to have our partner contact you via e-mail and/or phone.

What advice would you offer others about banking as an expat in your country? What do you wish you had known about banking when you first arrived?

NEVER go overdrawn - you can establish a sort of overdraft facility on a business account, but any unauthorised transgression means your banking facility can be withdrawn! Be prepared for things to take ages.

What sort of challenges or frustrations have you encountered as an investor living overseas? Please describe.

Bureaucracy, and the instinctive reaction of the French to say "Non" if you want do something outside their experience! Also the fees one pays for French banking is overly high.

What advice was particularly helpful to you in managing your finances? What advice would you give? Any other thoughts?

The best advice I was given was to go t an FX company to move money in and out of the Eurozone. I checked about 6 companies out and settled on First Rate FX for their cleint service, which is superb. I literally have saved thousands against my bank in UK. I transfer a regular amount each month (from a UK sterling pension) and pay no fees at all. When we bought our first house, on a purchase of 186.000 euros, we saved a massive euro 6,400 on the transaction than if we had used our UK bank to change the money for us.

Do you do your own taxes, use a local firm, an expat-oriented firm or does your employer handle this for you (i.e. via an corporate tax firm)?

I do my own taxes with the help of a very patient French accountant!

What advice could you offer others about doing your taxes as an expat?

Keep every piece of paper - and get yourself a good filing cabinet!