It was not until we had lived in France for a couple of years that we realised we had to fill in tax forms even though our pensions were taxed in England.

After several visits to the local impots office - one of which lasted for hours because of the queue - I finally posted my large envelope into the box indicated by the chap on duty and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

A few months later we received a huge taxbill!!

Oh no! The pleasant lady at the tax office had explained how to fill in the form and said it was 'only for information' and we wouldn't be taxed again. So, it was back to 'impots' armed with all the paperwork I had carefully photocopied to put in with the form plus a (nearly) bilingual friend for support.

We were in fighting mood but I was soon deflated when it was explained that I hadn't filled the form in properly. They were very nice about it and a few days later we received a letter saying we didn't owe anything after all. I felt like framing it!

Anyway, this year I'm not taking any chances. I've spent the morning gathering all the necessary evidence and photocopying it but I'm not writing a single figure on the form until I'm sitting opposite a 'tax counsellor'.