Is living abroad all it is cracked up to be ?

You are so right Fennel I rang up the other day to book tickets for tomorrow's bank holiday event. When I gave my name the man said ' ah oui, les Anglais a (village name).

I don’t understand why some of you were paying taxes in both countries. We only paid income tax in Holland not in the UK. The two countries have reciprocal rights. We could have chosen to pay British NI and Dutch but that was optional. We paid UK tax on any profit we made from renting our UK house out but that was all.

We pay tax globally dragonfly
UK taxes taken into consideration when our tax in France is worked out.

Pensions which derive from government, local government, military etc have to be taxed in the UK. I pay UK tax on at source on my occupational pension and French tax on my state pension. The tax I have paid in the UK is offset against my French tax allowance so I don't pay tax twice on the same amount.

My aunt is 91 years old and moved back to ireland a few years ago and lives in a small one bedroom flat. Up until the covid hit, she had my father...her younger brother looking out for her....I used to stay at my father's place but it is no longer available.
Her health is overall, very good but she says she is lonely and has no friends. Although, I am aware the community are very good to her.
The problem I am facing is the sheer cost/time to just pop over and see her on a regular basis. It consists of having to find somewhere with kitchen facilities or otherwise purchase meals. My aunt has not ever entertained indoors and her kitchen is very small....she is a horder....therefore, there is limited space where she lives. She likes to be entertained and either get taken out or have meals cooked for her.
Due to her good physical health, I feel annoyed at her lack of hosting.
I feel very guilty of thinking this way but my husband and I are 60 years old and work full time.
My aunt pays for the occasional meal but we mainly go Dutch when we go out.

My youngest daughter and her husband bought a house in Spain in 2007, and have had many happy short breaks there, but due to her husband now having dementia and the hight cost of travel insurance, they decided to sell up. They got quite a good price for their house, but were shocked when the final figure that they received was half the price they got for the house, due to various charges and taxes levied by the Spanish government.

Another resurrected thread.