In many senses that would be correct except for one small point, if the foreign account allows a French resident access to its banking activities, that might well be of interest to the Fisc and thus declarable.
Ah, just noticed @Stella and I have cross posted with the same message.
Great minds?
Frankly, if I was a Director and could sign cheques and authorize paymentsā¦ Iād go and ask face-to-faceā¦ at the Tax Offices.
Mind you, for anyone with an āimpots gouv frā personal spaceā¦ you can send a private message to the Tax Folk and ask them the question that wayā¦ along the lines ofā¦
Iām a Director of a company and have access to the Company Bank Account in UK. Do I need to declare that Company Bank Account here in France ??
canāt hurt to ask the questionā¦ can it ?? and one is seen to be being totally open and helpful (or over the top even, but better than possibly getting jumped on later for not saying anything)
OTOH you might open a can of worms which might be best left tightly sealed
Just declare it and be done with it, is my advice. If the Fisc have further questions/clarifications to explore, theyāll ask. You might not like the response otherwise
Bit like asking them what exchange rate to useā¦ if they give you one above what you might otherwise have been advised or reasonably thought appropriate, youāre tied in as it were and obligated to use it.
Nahā¦ no can of wormsā¦
Everyone is entitled to one (big) mistake with their Tax situation ā¦ thatās written into French Law if I recall correctlyā¦ came into being just a few years ago.
so long as the āmistakeā wasnāt with fraudulent intent, but honest oversight/whateverā¦
If I do ever get back to the Tax Offices, Iāll ask the question. Theyāre used to me by nowā¦
Bless you and your cheques Stella
and why notā¦ cheques do still exist, despite waffle to the contrary.
Itās what āold peopleā do @kirsteastevenson
In the Intermarche queues we look to avoid oldies since, at the last minute, they reach in to their handbag and pull out a chequebook
our visiting shop is paid by chequeā¦ and the locals queuing to collect their orders/buy stuffā¦ well, their ages run from mid 20ās to nearly 90ās I reckon.
This is an invaluable service for a community which does not have local commerce. Very much appreciated.
I must admit Iāve not even used my physical cards other than ATMs for a few years, Iām not sure Iāve used a cheque for 20, even with this countryās love of them, but I may have used the odd one and forgotten. I like that France is getting as good with Apple/Google pay as everywhere else these days, the heating oil man looked like Iād just performed a magic trick when I used my iPhone on the terminal instead of a card
I am a director of a UK Limited. Last Friday I asked the tax man who was helping me fill in the return for the first time whether I needed to declared the business account and he said not to. In addition, I have an investment account and my children have their account with the same institution. I have the ability to see their accounts from mine since I had power of attorney when they were young and I was helping them. However I donāt have ability to control the flow of money in and out of their accounts. He also said not to declare them, and he said he had the same situation with his children.
Well doneā¦ sometimes, talking with the French Tax Man really is the best thing to do.
Theyāve taken in your situation and advised you accordingly.
Of course, not everyone has exactly the same set of circumstances as you do.
A chat with Tax Folk is never a waste of time.
thanks peter. Your situation is the same as mine. So thatās good to hear. I take it you have access to your business accounts as well and are in charge of moving money into your personal accounts from them.
Please be aware that tax offices in France are notoriously independent or semi-autonomous of each other so what is deemed acceptable in one office, may not be the case in another and of course vice versa.
i asked a couple of accountants in my region and they said you donāt need to declare business accounts, just your personal ones.
so not sure now. incidentally i filled them in and then deleted them, so not sure if they can see ones iāve deleted.
i just want to do whatās required.
no idea tbh.
incidently, one accountant has come back and said she thinks you should. for the same reason you said. So it seems a mixed opinions.
I need to weigh up my options on wether i dont declare as many accountants have advised, or do and risk being fined for the 2 previous years i didnt declare them, Its 3 accounts so thats almost a 10k fine for 2 years!
i dont know why i stress, 99% of the times im sure these things are just administered by an automatic computer and not even looked into.
to be honest, I think that is very unlikely as I alluded to earlier. Itās certainly more likely if they discover the accounts before you have declared them so donāt fret.
As I said before I donāt think you have to - but if youāre stressing/worrying include them.