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I agree that other countries are difficult, too. France moreso I think, but not alone in all of this. Which is why I'm arguing the difficulty in working in or s

I agree that other countries are difficult, too. France moreso I think, but not alone in all of this. Which is why I'm arguing the difficulty in working in or starting a company in France is not money, it's navigating all the administration you need to do. And you won't know all there is to do until you do it. And since the laws change periodically, not even the prefecture will always know. I had immigration lawyers get the prefecture to correct the residency card they were issuing for me because they did it under a different program. How are you to know if the administration is doing it all correctly? And how do you know what all there is to do? And it is all in French. You better learn French or bring a translator. That's what I did. And we haven't even mentioned income tax. As a US citizen you still have tax liability for income you make in France, meaning you still pay the US a decent amount of taxes you make in France. The US is one of the only countries that does this. So you'll need to hire an accountant familiar with this to do your US taxes, and you still have to pay your French taxes. And forming a business? Better find someone who knows what to do, and be prepared for it took take a long time, like a year. Small businesses aren't too bad, but if you want employees...that's a totally different story. Solve the above problems I listed and then France will be attractive to foreigners. Maybe there's a business idea: help companies and people navigate French administration. It's worth a ton of headache.

realusername 9y ago
While France isn't the best country in the world for easily paying your taxes, it's clearly much better than the US if it's what you are afraid of.
- graniter 9y ago
  Actually paying French income tax is pretty easy; it's paying US taxes if you are a US citizen working in France that's hard. I'm not sure Americans know that they are taxed on their income wherever they earn it. All other countries only tax your income that you earn in that country. French citizens don't pay income tax on their salary they earn in the US, but the reverse is not true. Not only do Americans have to pay French income tax, they have to pay US income tax, even if they earn all their salary in France and stayed in France the entire year. And it gets complicated how to calculate, which is why I pay HR Block $700 to do it for me. This isn't France's fault. It's the US's.
  - realusername 9y ago
    Ah I see, I forgot about those US taxes, it's indeed very inconvenient...
  - otoburb 9y ago
    You're right about the US being one of the few countries in the world that still tax citizens and permanent residents no matter where they are in the world. You are also correct you should get some tax accounting advice to file your US taxes[]. Having said that, the US provides two mechanisms to offset US taxes when you are living abroad: 1) For single income earners, the first ~$100K is exempt or "non-reportable", known as the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion[1]. 2) US tax treaties with other countries help to offset. Thus, if a US citizen/resident pays a lot of taxes in another country that would exceed or equal their amount in the US, provided the country has a reciprocal tax treaty, the person should not need to pay additional tax to the IRS[2]. Note that while this applies to US permanent residents too, there are immigration consequences if one lives abroad without the appropriate paperwork/authorization.[] [*] Disclaimer: I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant. Please consult at least the latter for your taxes. [1] https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/figuring-the-foreign-earned-income-exclusion https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/figu... [2] https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/tax-treaty-tables https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/tax-...
    - Chris2048 9y ago
      I'm a bit annoyed about this. European forms always ask about the US, even if there's no reason to suspect I've ever been a US citizen - I assume this is purely because America has the pull?
      - rjsw 9y ago
        They ask because it is more work to deal with US citizens. Your parents could have been visiting the US when you were born.
        9y ago
pyrale 9y ago
Your US taxes should be close to nothing, and filling your french taxes can be done in anything from 2 minutes to a couple hours, depending on how large/complicated your savings are. The only burden there is is with the US asking you to fill in taxes when there's nothing to pay. I agree that coming without planning to learn a bit of french might be a burden.

realusername 9y ago

While France isn't the best country in the world for easily paying your taxes, it's clearly much better than the US if it's what you are afraid of.

graniter 9y ago
Actually paying French income tax is pretty easy; it's paying US taxes if you are a US citizen working in France that's hard. I'm not sure Americans know that they are taxed on their income wherever they earn it. All other countries only tax your income that you earn in that country. French citizens don't pay income tax on their salary they earn in the US, but the reverse is not true. Not only do Americans have to pay French income tax, they have to pay US income tax, even if they earn all their salary in France and stayed in France the entire year. And it gets complicated how to calculate, which is why I pay HR Block $700 to do it for me. This isn't France's fault. It's the US's.
- realusername 9y ago
  Ah I see, I forgot about those US taxes, it's indeed very inconvenient...
- otoburb 9y ago
  You're right about the US being one of the few countries in the world that still tax citizens and permanent residents no matter where they are in the world. You are also correct you should get some tax accounting advice to file your US taxes[]. Having said that, the US provides two mechanisms to offset US taxes when you are living abroad: 1) For single income earners, the first ~$100K is exempt or "non-reportable", known as the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion[1]. 2) US tax treaties with other countries help to offset. Thus, if a US citizen/resident pays a lot of taxes in another country that would exceed or equal their amount in the US, provided the country has a reciprocal tax treaty, the person should not need to pay additional tax to the IRS[2]. Note that while this applies to US permanent residents too, there are immigration consequences if one lives abroad without the appropriate paperwork/authorization.[] [*] Disclaimer: I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant. Please consult at least the latter for your taxes. [1] https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/figuring-the-foreign-earned-income-exclusion https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/figu... [2] https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/tax-treaty-tables https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/tax-...
  - Chris2048 9y ago
    I'm a bit annoyed about this. European forms always ask about the US, even if there's no reason to suspect I've ever been a US citizen - I assume this is purely because America has the pull?
    - rjsw 9y ago
      They ask because it is more work to deal with US citizens. Your parents could have been visiting the US when you were born.
      - 9y ago

pyrale 9y ago

Your US taxes should be close to nothing, and filling your french taxes can be done in anything from 2 minutes to a couple hours, depending on how large/complicated your savings are. The only burden there is is with the US asking you to fill in taxes when there's nothing to pay. I agree that coming without planning to learn a bit of french might be a burden.