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FRANCE EXPLAINED

Filing taxes and finding cheap fuel: 6 essential articles for life in France

From the best websites to know for working in France and the places you should avoid for filling up your car, to the best regional cuisine in the North and South of France and planning your tax dates, here are the six essential articles you need to know for life in France.

Filing taxes and finding cheap fuel: 6 essential articles for life in France
A person eats a choucroute in Strasbourg, France (Photo by PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP)

The French government has loads of different websites for different purposes, and it can be hard to know which are worth keeping track of…and which are actually possible to navigate as an English-speaker.

If you are planning to work in France (or hire someone in France), then you’ll want to keep track of the most useful websites for the various administrative hurdles that will come up. 

We made a list of the best, and easiest to navigate, French government websites that will answer all of your questions from visas to employment contracts. On that list, you’ll find a new website that the French government just updated that consolidates a lot of the different things you used to have to go to several separate websites to find. 

Six official websites to know if you’re planning to work in France

Spring has sprung, and therefore so has tax season!

Taxes can also be an area that is confusing for foreigners living in France. Filling out the forms in French is a bit daunting, and you might be wondering what applies to you, specifically as a foreigner in France. Knowing the deadlines for filing your taxes is an important part of living in France.

As for what is coming up for May and June, you’ll want to mark your calendars for the dates for declaring your revenue. We made an updated list for you.

Income tax declaration in France: The key dates you need to know

After moving to France, many foreigners find it difficult to get French people to just speak to them in French without reverting to English. It is easy to feel stuck, wondering how and where you can practice your French skills.

If you are looking to gain confidence in your listening skills – to avoid those blank-face moments – we asked other readers for their recommendations.

Here is what they recommended for filling your free time with French TV shows, podcasts, and radio channels.

The French TV series, radio shows and podcasts that will boost your language skills

Not a French resident yet, but still looking into buying a car in France? In reality, depending on where you are going, you might not need to have a vehicle.

Still, having a car is an essential for many people living in France, particularly those living out in the countryside. You might be thinking it would be easier to just buy a car in l’Hexagon rather than bringing one here – and you might be right. Doing the process in France will save you the headache of having to get the French equivalents for all the necessary paperwork.

Here are the essential things to know about buying a car in France:

Reader question: Can I buy a car in France if I’m not a resident?

And if you do end up buying that car, you’ll probably be wondering where to find the most affordable fuel in France.

With inflation on the rise, fuel is becoming more expensive throughout France, in some places more than others (you might want to avoid filling up in the Paris region).

There are still some places in the country with relatively affordable fuel, however, and we have made a guide for where to go to avoid breaking the bank at the fuel pump.

Which parts of France have the cheapest fuel prices?

Ah, French cuisine. People might think you can never go wrong with French food, but there are definitely some choices worth prioritising higher than others.

You are probably starting to think about your summer travel plans. If you are looking to eat well while jetting across France, without having to put too much thought into food-planning, then check out our regional guides!

We have come up with a few food and drink guides for you, complete with specific regional recommendations. Here is what to eat and drink in the North and South of France:

French regional cuisine: What to eat and drink in northern France

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VISAS

Ask the expert: What are the French immigration laws for ‘pacsé’ couples?

The French civil partnership known as Pacs is an alternative to marriage - but the situation is complicated if you're hoping to get a French visa or residency permit through being pacsé with a French or other EU national, as immigration lawyer Paul Nicolaÿ explains.

Ask the expert: What are the French immigration laws for 'pacsé' couples?

In a 2018 judgement, the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative Court, put an end to a long-running controversy as to whether or not an individual, signatory of a civil partnership under French law (Pacs) with a European citizen could be considered as a family member of the latter and therefore benefit from favourable EU regulations on immigration.

One of the core principles of the European Union has always been to facilitate the movement of European citizens within the territories of the Member States. And obviously, expatriation is a much more attractive option if family members are allowed to remain united without time limit and with rights equivalent to those of local citizens.

These assumptions form the basis of the European directive 2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.

This regulation gives a precise definition of a “family member” that includes the spouse, the descendant, the ascendant in a state of dependance, and also “the partner with whom the Union citizen has contracted a registered partnership, on the basis of the legislation of a Member State, if the legislation of the host Member State treats registered partnerships as equivalent to marriage and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the relevant legislation of the host Member State”.

In other words, if a civil partnership, implemented by an EU Member State such as France, confers on its signatories the same status and the same rights and obligations as a marriage contracted in the same country, then civil partners must be considered as spouses under the EU aforementioned directive, and therefore benefit from the right to move and reside freely within the EU.

Quite logically, the issue was raised concerning the French civil partnership implemented in 1999 and called Partenariat civil de solidarité (Pacs).

After all, Pacs and marriage have in common the same obligation of common life, a commitment to mutual material support and the same consequences on taxes. In the meantime, unlike marriage, Pacs contracts have little to no effect on parentage, nationality, property, and inheritance and are much easier to rescind.

READ ALSO What are the differences between Pacs and marriage?

The first answer given to that question by the French legislative power in 2006 was that Pacs and marriage were not equivalent.

In the following years however, several administrative Courts have ruled otherwise, in contradiction with French national law, and considered that the most important aspects of a Pacs contract make it roughly similar to a civil marriage.

The final word belonged to the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative Court, which in 2018 overturned this position and definitely ruled that, due to the essential differences between Pacs and marriage, only married spouses are considered family members under EU law.

In practical terms, the main outcome of this legal controversy is that non European nationals cannot apply for a French visa or residence card as family members of an EU citizen, simply due to the fact that they signed a Pacs contract with an EU national.

Of course, other solutions exist for them but, undoubtedly, they do not benefit from EU law and remain under a much less favourable status than spouses of EU citizens residing in France.

READ ALSO What type of French visa do I need?

Their main option is to apply for a residence card under the status vie privée et familiale (private and family life), but in this case préfectures require the proof of a stable and continuous common life of at least one year.

If you find yourself in this situation, be careful to submit your application file through the appropriate procedure. Any confusion, even due to the préfecture itself, could induce frustrating delays and put you in a precarious situation.

Paul Nicolaÿ is a French lawyer based near Paris and specialising in French immigration and nationality law – find his website here.

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