Foncs giveth and Foncs taketh away

[MAD87]

How on earth do folk manage in this sort of situation if they lack sufficient 'french'?

They sink or swim, or, in the case of one of our friends, they shout and gesticulate.
When we first came here in '91, I spoke no French at all, but OH had A-level French. One day I went out alone to buy a vacuum cleaner, having forgotten to look up the French term. Unable to see the desired product in the local quincaillerie, I hailed the woman who owned the shop, waved my arms a bit then crouched on all fours and made sucking noises while her poodle stood almost nose-to-nose with me, looking rather puzzled. Madame got it though (while struggling not to laugh).

[exile]

I can beat that LAF. Just received our Avis d'impot. They have refunded everything I have paid this year (several thousands) because they have taken all of our income as rev. étrangers - which I assume means they think I am being taxed elsewhere.

How tempting..... I'd be inclined to stash it away and let them sweat when they discover their error

Believe me I am/was tempted but sod's law says they will discover the error when the balance in the account is just/not enough to cover the repayment and the panic to transfer from one of our other accounts will then set in. And I doubt there will be warning - take the money back and then send a letter saying what they have done.

[Loup-garou]

One day I went out alone to buy a vacuum cleaner, having forgotten to look up the French term. Unable to see the desired product in the local quincaillerie, I hailed the woman who owned the shop, waved my arms a bit then crouched on all fours and made sucking noises while her poodle stood almost nose-to-nose with me,

So you would have us believe that neither the woman nor the dog thought you wanted to have sex with them?

[Quiksilver]

It's times like that that you wish you wanted an upright

[Hotrodder]

It is a long held belief that women and men have different "inherited skills". Women are said to be generally better at communication skills, and men better at spacial awareness. Reality or bollox. Take your pick.

[Mangetout]

I can beat that LAF. Just received our Avis d'impot. They have refunded everything I have paid this year (several thousands) because they have taken all of our income as rev. étrangers - which I assume means they think I am being taxed elsewhere.

Thankfully in the past the contact in our not local tax office has been very amenable and helpful. I hope she is still there.

We had a similar situation some years ago when they credited us with having paid tax in the UK despite filling in the form correctly. As we weren't due to pay tax anyway because our income was too low, I ignored it. It made no difference to the bottom line. Big mistake. The buggers had me in twice, went over the previous 3 years declarations in forensic detail, only to confirm by telephone that they had made an error. Well actually what they said was that there was no requirement to pursue the matter further. Seems you're responsible for their errors.

[MAD87]

I can beat that LAF. Just received our Avis d'impot. They have refunded everything I have paid this year (several thousands) because they have taken all of our income as rev. étrangers - which I assume means they think I am being taxed elsewhere.

Thankfully in the past the contact in our not local tax office has been very amenable and helpful. I hope she is still there.

We had a similar situation some years ago when they credited us with having paid tax in the UK despite filling in the form correctly. As we weren't due to pay tax anyway because our income was too low, I ignored it. It made no difference to the bottom line. Big mistake. The buggers had me in twice, went over the previous 3 years declarations in forensic detail, only to confirm by telephone that they had made an error. Well actually what they said was that there was no requirement to pursue the matter further. Seems you're responsible for their errors.

Yes, we are! We've had one major brush with the fisc over 2 payments made into one of my UK accounts in 2016 - premium bond prizes of £100.00 and £200.00. Please explain Madame why you haven't declared receipts of 10.000€ and 20.000€ ...
It took me half an hour to do a check and work out that the Parisian clown concerned didn't understand the difference between UK and French numbers. Total radio silence after I'd sent a scathing letter to Bercy.
In my experrience, the French never admit errors.

[Nomoss]

..................In my experrience, the French never admit errors.

If they do, as you have noticed, it is by telephone. Not by any way which leaves a record.

[DominicBest]

I’d agree that in my experience it tends to be the female member of a couple who takes responsibility for language skills. What I cannot understand is the number of people I’ve met who are happy to live here with only really basic French. I felt really uncomfortable when I spent 10 days earlier this year when I was only to say hello to people and didn’t even know the basics for shopping. The non French speakers often claim that they’re not good at languages because they haven’t picked up French from living here. They don’t seem to understand that for most people learning an additional language needs a lot of effort and commitment.

[Hotrodder]

All very well if you are "retired" in the traditional sense, with time on your hands, rather than spending every waking moment trying to renovate a wreck on a basic state pension, no savings or help from expensive professionals, with your own bare hands. Many of us quickly learned building terms and enough to follow French electrical regs and deal with permissions, etc. but no time to lol about in cafes and bars chatting with the locals learning the conversational skills. Not everyone is the same and people who criticise should think before they speak.