French word of the day: Les Impôts
Published: (30/5/2024)
If it is the end of May in France, it must be time to…file your tax return! Yes, it is paperwork time, I filed ours yesterday and I’m currently still lying in bed recovering. (Yes, really.)
Most people in France do file their personal taxes, aka les impôts, by themselves because the online govt system is mostly pre-filled. It is supposed to be simple, but somehow there are always weird challenges.
If you click one button one place, it somehow wipes out a figure somewhere else. Or you need to check some box in order to make some hidden part of the form appear. Move during the year, or incur any other changes? Serve yourself a shot of cognac before starting.
So there is always lot of back and forth between different forms, checking and double-checking and trying to decipher whatever tax-speak the form is asking for.
Yes, I know I’m rambling about the tax forms, which are not really interesting whatever language you speak. But as you can tell, the trauma is real.
With that ticked off the to-do list, it still isn’t all fun and games. That’s because we’re in the 6 week period before all work stops and 1/2 the country goes on holiday in July. To be followed by the other 1/2 going in August.
No, I’m not kidding. In big companies and small, personal life or professional, whatever projects you want done in France, you better hustle to nail it down before the start of July.
As an example, last year at our old residence, a new gate and fence was going to be put in. After much cajoling they arrived at the end of June, did a half-ass job and disappeared, and then reappeared in mid-September to finish the task. This is the French way, expect it and live with it.
All of which is going to prove to be really interesting with the upcoming Olympics which somehow have been placed right in the middle of the Juilletiste-Aoutien debate: July 24th to August 11th.
Anyway, to catch up on Olympic news:
- Two dead bodies were pulled out of the Seine in recent weeks.
- the rehearsal opening ceremony on the Seine has been postponed again for “high waters”.
- A study has found that there is an “eternal polluant” in the Seine and other European rivers.
- The mayor of Paris is planning on going for a swim in the supposedly “clean” Seine river on June 23, along with the Prefet of Police and maybe President Macron so mark your calendars.
- A hashtag has been launched on twitter to “defecate” in the Seine before this grand baignade (swim)
With over 1.4 billion euros spent on the cleaning of the Seine rather than building proper swimming pools, I’m sure everyone considers this a success. Or not.
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