SCI - Societe Civile Immobiliere

[Old Hack]

Newby here, but not to contracting.

We are looking at buying a holiday home in France and in our research, have come across this:

An SCI (Société Civile Immobilière) is a rather specialist type of French company (société) that is constituted for the ownership and management of property (immobilière).

As I see it, the SCI acts as a company to UK Ltd company. So if you make the SCI a shareholder in your company, any dividends you pass intra-company are tax free. So, again, if I have understood this correctly, you can throw all of your profits at the SCI and purchase a house with it. As long as you are not letting the property to strangers, then there is no tax payable.

Has anyone had any experience with an SCI?

Thanks

[northernladuk]

Not had first hand experience but found this...

http://www.frenchpropertylaw.co.uk/F...%A8re_2008.pdf

However, from a UK perspective, there have been recent tax law cases in England which
indicate that the SCI is considered by the Inland Revenue to be an “opaque” and not a
“transparent” company. This means that, as with any commercial company, the occupation of
the property for free by the directors and shareholders of the company should be regarded as a
benefit in kind and assessable to income tax in the U.K.

Also....

Using an SCI to Purchase Property in France - AngloINFO Midi-Pyrénées South, in Midi-Pyrénées South (France)

Disadvantages of an SCI
All decisions within an SCI are subject to a collective decision by all shareholders. This could cause problems in the event of the death of a shareholder as heirs may not work harmoniously with the rest of the shareholders.
Mortgages taken out with an SCI are generally slightly more expensive and can be more difficult to secure.
British citizens only: the HM Revenue & Customs are studying the possibility of taxing French SCIs in the UK on the basis of an average rental income because the shares are considered movable and thus a UK asset.

The first one is from 2007/2008 so may have changed, can't find date on the second one I am afraid.

Based on this alone I would be getting some professional advice.