. . Germany - the taxman cometh

[Codejock]

capitulated

And I thought that was just the french!

[alongdrop]

Just going back then

LonelyRider seems to have good advice. His previous posts made me sleep a little easier (being a veteran freier).
PS - LonelyRider I tried PM-ing you - are you still checking this thread?

[Codejock]

Re: Just going back then

Yes, LonelyRider certainly does seem to be very well informed...

[AlfredJPruffock]

Tell me about it!

You go to the local tax office and try to do the right thing and the response you get is (in German) "If you don't speak to me in German, I can't help you" [1]

and then they wonder why foreigners don't pay their taxes properly.

Doesn't happen like this in Sweden [unfortunately :-)].

[1] If a British Goverment/Council official responded like this, the press would be shouting "institutional racism" in a nanosecond, boy did it piss me off.

tim

Having worked in Germany before my overall impression was that German officaldom resents you being there at all.

I wouldnt go back , even though I did learn and speak German.

They'll never accept you - no matter how many years you live there - in their eyes you are always The Auslander.

And to think I even paid Reunificaiton tax - b@st@rds.


But thats just my impression.

[BlasterBates]

Having worked in Germany before my overall impression was that German officaldom resents you being there at all.

I wouldnt go back , even though I did learn and speak German.

They'll never accept you - no matter how many years you live there - in their eyes you are always The Auslander.

And to think I even paid Reunificaiton tax - b@st@rds.


But thats just my impression.

sounds like Scotland.

I'm sure Scotland isn't really like that

[alongdrop]

yep

Strange - I had the same feeling the UK when I was there BlasterBates!!

But I can understand your anger - 'Padded cell at Grangeworth Psychiatric Hospital' - lovely.

Nope - the Germans will never be 'free like the Spanish', but I have lived here long enough to respect them a lot. Many of them are law abiding and good people - and even friendly!!
Anyway- this could start a whole new thread, which aint right.

Unfortunately we're dealing with something much more serious here.

[BlightyBoy]

Dunkirk Spirit

I've been reading this thread with some interest and have come to the following conclusion...

YOU BUNCH OF PUSSIES!!

Whatever happened to that Dunkirk/Blitz spirit?? Your grandfathers will be turning in their graves.

Let's examine the facts:

1. If anybody is working under a solution involving a split, then the split income is paid into an offshore account. Unless you volunteer that information to the authorities or are stupid enough to keep cards, statements etc. at home or about your person HOW WOULD THEY KNOW?!
2. One pansy-arsed accountant, somewhere in a town beginning with 'L' whose name has a C (or K) and an H in it gets raided. More likely because of his own dodgy dealings than anything else, he gets cold-feet and wets his own pants. He knows what you guys are doing and is looking at saving his own skin, so e-mails, calls, letters etc. follow. Why? Has he a generous social conscience? NO! Is he soiling himself 'cause he's facing a 12-stretch? DEFINITELY. And you guys all rollover and play dead just because he says so???
3. If you are splitting, who is to say that your MC is not just stiffing you on the rate? Some of the money gets siphoned offshore and as long as it stays there, no one can say any different. Sure, it's illegal, but let's be honest, the government only want to squander your hard-earned cash on shoring up the banks and failing cities anyway (anybody seen the state of primary schools in Berlin? Do you think your tax-euro is going to go anywhere helpful?? Really???). Just because there is a big difference between what is paid for you and what you get paid, just proves to rest of the world what we contractors have always known about agencies and umbrellas...
4. Works for the yanks, so two words - PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY. Who can argue with a contract, an invoice and a bank-statement all showing the same figure? You can't really get any more solid than that. As for your home computers, keep a shiny new harddisk to hand, and a hammer/microwave in the other. At the first sign of trouble, back up the information you want, and destroy the data you don't (if you have been foolish enough to access your online account from home/work that is). Internet Cafe's - why the hell do you think God invented them? (They're not just for sad lonely w**kers looking at porn y' know!).

If you guys were really as honest as the day is long, you wouldn't be splitting in the first place. In for a penny (cent) in for a pound (Euro).

As for you guys who are concerned about your own self-image (Blaster, Darmstadt, CodeJock et. al), you guys are only narked cause you didn't get to split and save the bucks in the first place, so climb-down off the moral high ground (Freiberufler, declarations, etc. etc.) and face up to the fact that you missed out on the last gravy-train out of Contractorville.

[poppy01]

I've been reading this thread with some interest and have come to the following conclusion...

YOU BUNCH OF PUSSIES!!

love it, you sir are a legend

[Slumdog]

I think it's a case of the authorities thinking... how comes you are earning less than your german counterparts. That has to be taken into consideration

[fatboyContractor]

I've been reading this thread with some interest and have come to the following conclusion...

YOU BUNCH OF PUSSIES!!

Whatever happened to that Dunkirk/Blitz spirit?? Your grandfathers will be turning in their graves.

Let's examine the facts:

1. If anybody is working under a solution involving a split, then the split income is paid into an offshore account. Unless you volunteer that information to the authorities or are stupid enough to keep cards, statements etc. at home or about your person HOW WOULD THEY KNOW?!
2. One pansy-arsed accountant, somewhere in a town beginning with 'L' whose name has a C (or K) and an H in it gets raided. More likely because of his own dodgy dealings than anything else, he gets cold-feet and wets his own pants. He knows what you guys are doing and is looking at saving his own skin, so e-mails, calls, letters etc. follow. Why? Has he a generous social conscience? NO! Is he soiling himself 'cause he's facing a 12-stretch? DEFINITELY. And you guys all rollover and play dead just because he says so???
3. If you are splitting, who is to say that your MC is not just stiffing you on the rate? Some of the money gets siphoned offshore and as long as it stays there, no one can say any different. Sure, it's illegal, but let's be honest, the government only want to squander your hard-earned cash on shoring up the banks and failing cities anyway (anybody seen the state of primary schools in Berlin? Do you think your tax-euro is going to go anywhere helpful?? Really???). Just because there is a big difference between what is paid for you and what you get paid, just proves to rest of the world what we contractors have always known about agencies and umbrellas...
4. Works for the yanks, so two words - PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY. Who can argue with a contract, an invoice and a bank-statement all showing the same figure? You can't really get any more solid than that. As for your home computers, keep a shiny new harddisk to hand, and a hammer/microwave in the other. At the first sign of trouble, back up the information you want, and destroy the data you don't (if you have been foolish enough to access your online account from home/work that is). Internet Cafe's - why the hell do you think God invented them? (They're not just for sad lonely w**kers looking at porn y' know!).

If you guys were really as honest as the day is long, you wouldn't be splitting in the first place. In for a penny (cent) in for a pound (Euro).

As for you guys who are concerned about your own self-image (Blaster, Darmstadt, CodeJock et. al), you guys are only narked cause you didn't get to split and save the bucks in the first place, so climb-down off the moral high ground (Freiberufler, declarations, etc. etc.) and face up to the fact that you missed out on the last gravy-train out of Contractorville.

This has to be about the best post I have read on any forum, on any subject, ever, an absolute classic. I am still crying with laughter and I read the post 30 mins ago.