Penny's activity

Agostino - I have worked like this for many years now in Italy. I too work via the internet for a company in the UK on a self-employed basis. I pay my taxes here in Italy and it is not overly complicated but fairly expensive as workers like us do not have large expenses to deduct. You can be setup as a 'Libero Professionista' which means you pay social security contributions of around 25/26% plus tax at a starting rate of 23%. Then there are small local income taxes 1-2% plus community charge (IMU - if you own a home) and rubbish tax to be paid to the local council (commune). It is very important to find a good accountant. I, sadly, have had several. Accountants fees are ridiculously high here. I pay more than I did to run a Ltd Co. in the UK in London. You can deduct many more things from your tax bill here than you can in the UK so how much tax you pay will depend on your circumstances. The worker's unions sometimes have very reasonable fees for accountancy services. To move here (as has been said before) you need to take out residency if you stay for longer than 3 months. To get residency you do not need health insurance if you have been paying your UK NI for the 2 years prior to your arrival. Ask for form S2 from the DWP and present that to the commune. You should get 2 1/2 years cover for free. If you are paying your taxes in Italy that will cover you after that. Once you have been here 5 years you get permanent residency and do not need to renew your health cover with the Italian authorities (although I know there are some slight regional variations on these procedures). Rural rents tend to be fairly low but will be surprisingly high at the coast or in big cities. You can either take a tourist contract for up to 1 year (can't have residency at that address) or do a residents' contract for 3+2 years or 4+4 years. Generally this puts all the rights in your favour and the landlord can't get you out before the contract break (at 3 or 4 years). The rent will increase each year in line with a government figure (whose name escapes me). Be prepared that you will be liable for all repairs and maintenance (except capital repairs) to the house/appartment and rubbish tax at that address if you have a resident's contract. Check and double check the internet connection at whichever property/area you choose. It will not be what you had in the UK in any rate but I have worked successfully with both telecom Italia 7Mb (not really 7Mb though) and Fastweb 10mb (also not really 10Mb but faster than TI). I am connected to the London network, use an IP phone, connect to the internet and use pier to pier systems to remote control user's PCs all at the same time so it works fine. Be prepared for outages though as storms seem to affect the service a lot. I find Italian email appallingly bad and many go missing. I have 4 different accounts (all with different providers) in the hope that one might work properly. Keep your UK email address and use it via the Web browser interface would be my advice. Other than that we are the fortunate few who can work in this way so don't be put off by the doom merchants. Oh - and learn Italian and join some clubs and societies here to meet people as being a homeworker can be lonely anywhere but especially in a foreign country without speaking the local language. Good luck.

on the Radio 4 broadcast one of the episodes was called "The devil of Carpasio". Carpasio borders Molini di Triora in the Valle Argentina, inland from Arma di Taggia. We went up there recently for their Wild West festa. Triora is famous as the town of the witches.

That's a shame. All I saw from Amazon was that her husband found the house while walking on the Alta Via inland from Ventimiglia. Maybe we'll never know...

Looks like an interesting book. Do you know the name of the village as I think it is pretty close to us?

qui già - what you have written is perfectly correct until your UK licence expires. Then, if you are no longer a resident of the UK you have no choice (unless you want to lie to the DVLA) to get a full Italian licence (as opoosed to the pink sticker), as you do not have a valid UK address at which to claim a UK one. Also remember that your Italian driving licence number (the pink sticker) will probably have a different expiry date to your UK driving licence.

She said her daughter goes to one in Valmir but it will be closing in the autumn. If your daughter was born before 30th April 2010 then she should be accepted at the state asilo in Petritoli assuming they have places. There is another private asilo at Servigliano or Piane di Montegiorgio but I'm afraid I don't know anyone who has kids there. Good luck.

Hi Harriet, for a two year old you will need an 'asilo nido' as they can't start 'scuola materna' until they are 3 years old. I have a friend who lives near there and her daughter goes to asilo. I'll ask her for you. Penny

Lucy & Gerry - use the self-service machine in front of Conad.

Ram - I think you over simplify things. I am distinctly working class (being a 'Cockerny' as my Yorshireman husband puts it) and we always refer to the handbasin in the bathroom and the sink in the kitchen. I've no idea where you're from but maybe it's a North/South thing?

Totally agree with Fillide. Ours were specified by the engineer who specified the roof beams etc.