Two Carte de sejour questions, simple.

Hello - it depends on your nationality.  You may need to declare your income and pay taxes accordingly,  You may need a fiscal representative, that is if you stay in the country for more than 6 months.  Check whether this is a consecutive period or if your total stays in the country add up to 6 months and a day,  If you have a UK passport, which is my case, we need to wait to see what happens at the end of this year when Brexit comes into force.  In the meantime, why not travel in and out of the country on your passport, of course, when quarantine measures lift. Rather vague, sorry ...

CiliaAnn wrote:

Hello - it depends on your nationality.  You may need to declare your income and pay taxes accordingly,  You may need a fiscal representative, that is if you stay in the country for more than 6 months.  Check whether this is a consecutive period or if your total stays in the country add up to 6 months and a day,  If you have a UK passport, which is my case, we need to wait to see what happens at the end of this year when Brexit comes into force.  In the meantime, why not travel in and out of the country on your passport, of course, when quarantine measures lift. Rather vague, sorry ...

According to their profile, they are American.

C., Thank you for your response. Yes, I’m American and it’s a little complicated right now. 😂
I consider myself quite fortunate to have arrived in France in February for my visa renewal!

Once you have a renewable visa (which becomes a titre de séjour, a residence permit), you are a resident of France, and so must *file* French taxes. In this case, the amount of time lived in France doesn't matter - you are a fiscal resident from day 1 (confirmed by a friend who went to the impôts office and asked).
If you don't work in France, and all your income (savings, pension, etc) is from the states, then it's fairly simple - you first file US taxes, paying as needed, then file French taxes, getting a credit for having paid necessary US taxes. Normally, you don't owe French taxes.
Regarding time you have to spend in France in order to maintain your residence status, I've heard a lot of different things. It can change, depending on the type of residence permit you have, so that's one reason it's so confusing. I would go with what your préfecture told you.

Thanks, Julie. Five years ago I never imagined I would see Europe in my lifetime, now life involves things like filing a French tax return.
I will keep that happy miracle in mind when I’m doing my taxes. 😂