I only hope the Pethericks are squeaky clean as they are potentially about to invoke the interest of;
lawyers on behalf of the Strawbridges, loss of business, defamation of character etc
Investigative journalists via the high media profile of said Strawbridges
Channel Four by mentioning a reason why the Pethericks were removed from the show and the fact that the Strawbridges are C4's 'bankable' stars
By the way Is Chateau Rescue not exactly the same format as Escape to the Chateau? Do you think that is where they copied the idea from?
They'll have more than that to contend with because there's the
tax issue. Michael's received thousands from GoFundMe (GoFundMyLazyLifestyle) and from his YouTube activities and hasn't paid a penny in tax. The
tax is now paid
à la source in France (under the old system it was paid a year later), which means he should be paying tax monthly or every three months. But since this business isn't registered anywhere (there is no official status for YouTubers) it means that the income goes under the radar, unless it's declared, of course, which I doubt it is. In some European countries, like Belgium for instance, YouTubers have to declare their income. I should imagine this is also the case in France. Some clarification is required because a lot of people are buying châteaux in France and jumping on the YouTube bandwagon... The channels are sprouting up all over the place and it's all completely unregulated!
Chateau Rescue's a good example and completely misleading. We're told in the first video about Château Lalacelle that it's a wonderful bargain, but what you're not told is that the house is full of dry rot (the subject of various legal disputes in the past) and is right in the middle of a military aircraft flying zone, and that wind turbines are planned in the area. But it doesn't matter... anything to keep the
tax-free dosh rolling in!
@TheTaxInspector Is he a french resident? was there not an issue where he couldn't get his greedy paws on the GFM because he didn't have a bank account & tha'ts not that long ago. Since he only started last year vlogging he will probably not have to sort out tax affairs until this year. But is he registered for tax that would be obligatory..he is probably in the higher tax bracket so he better have squirreled away a few gold nuggetsgift list or he will be in bother..maybe another pity party with a gift list of GFM donations!!!
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No, he isn't a French resident. At best he'll be able to get a five-year
carte de séjour (residency permit), but that will mean declaring an income ... I suppose he could always do another
tax-free GFM to pay the tax. That said, the tax authorities in France will come down very hard on anyone who isn't declaring/hasn't declared any taxable income. A full investigation is usually carried out into the person's financial situation and if the person's found guilty of tax evasion there'll be a hefty fine to pay and possibly a
prison sentence.