advice needed on salaried job & MicroBic

[Paul Carmel]

Hello all,

A bit of advice, please!

Currently our only income is from the house rental, for which we are on MicroBic which is in my name. We have just been offered a job, which given the lack of bookings we could really do with the money. It's a job for one person but the nature of it is that it's something me and Nicky can do together (and so get done in half the time!) It's a 6 month contract for the minimum wage, and then one of us would be entitled to chomage for the following 6 months.

My question is would it be better for it to be done in my wife's name or does it not matter? Are there any implications for MicroBic, social charges payments and so on?

Any thoughts etc gratefully received!

[la vache!]

Hi Paul,
I work as a salarié and also have a micro bic. The two incomes are added together (taking into account the abattement of 68% for the micro bic) and you then pay income tax on that.
As far as the social charges are concerned, if your salary is equal to or greater than the revenue from the micro bic after the abattement, then you don't have to pay any social charges for the micro bic (except the CSG of course) as you and your employer make the necessary contributions through your work as a salarié. If the earnings from your job are less than the revenue from the micro bic, you will need to keep making the social charge payments.
I can't help on whether it would be beneficial to put the work in Nickys name or not, sorry!

[Paul Carmel]

Thank you as always Susan!

[greenfrog]

Hi Paul,

I'm not up to date on changes in the laws but I do remember looking at the tax for couples issue about 10 years ago here and it was disadvantageous to have the wife earning more than the husband (this country is SO sexist!). That may have changed, and it was for two salaried workers so I don't know how it works with the micro-bic but I would check it out.

Also, I thought the micro-bic only applied if you are salaried? I'm paying it for the first time this year but as I have a job as well, I hadn't looked into all the permutations.

Elaine

[Alan Knighting]

Elaine,

Also, I thought the micro-bic only applied if you are salaried?

On the contrary, Micro-bic can only apply in full when one is not salaried.

Fluffy

[greenfrog]

Elaine,

Also, I thought the micro-bic only applied if you are salaried?

On the contrary, Micro-bic can only apply in full when one is not salaried.

Fluffy

uh oh.

Back to the drawing board before I file my tax returns then!

[la vache!]

Elaine,

Also, I thought the micro-bic only applied if you are salaried?

On the contrary, Micro-bic can only apply in full when one is not salaried.

Fluffy

Alan, I don't understand, what do you mean 'in full'? I get all the abattement from the micro-bic and am also a salarié - I have been filing tax returns on this basis for 4 years with no problem, as advised by an accountant.

[Alan Knighting]

Elaine,

uh oh. Back to the drawing board before I file my tax returns then!

What a brilliant idea, an idea which would never do any of us any harm.

Let’s not be categorical; by all means let’s go back to the drawing board, the drawing board of our individual circumstances.

The tax regime in France appears to include a certain amount of flexibility and one can only relate the tax regime to how it affects one personally - hypothetical scenarios are irrelevant.

I discuss my situation with my local Hotel des Impots on an annual basis and Micro-bic, in its fullest context, is only of benefit to me because I am not salaried.

Fluffy

[la vache!]

I still don't know how you can or can't fully benefit from a Micro-bic, it either applies to you depending on your income being under a threshold or it doesn't. Most gite B&B businesses were/are traditionally an 'extra' activity in France - few people rely upon them as sole income - and the micro bic régime has always been by people used by people in this situation, including salariés, with the general rule about level of income I spoke about in my first post.
I was only giving info based on my own situation - of course Paul should of course speak to the Hotel d'Impôts or an accountant, but whenever I speak to the former I often get a different answer depeding on which fonctionnaire I speak to. They aren't interested in the social contributions either, only the income tax implications, so an accountant may be of more use.

[Alan Knighting]

I still don't know how you can or can't fully benefit from a Micro-bic, it either applies to you depending on your income being under a threshold or it doesn't.

Not so. I am beyond the statutory retirement age so the rules may be slightly different for me.

I have pension income, I have investment income and I have rental income and I am resident in France for Income Tax purposes. When my Income Tax is calculated the full benefits of being registered as a Micro-bic for my rental income are taken into account.

The only “threshold� is that my rental income can not exceed the maximum for Micro-bic.

Fluffy