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Hello!   Unfortunately, I'm reviving this thread with a new difficult situation... I've been using the same accountant for ca. 7 years - I was never overly happy with their work - they don't answer emails, don't explain situations or options, have made mistakes in past declarations etc. I stayed with them as it's hard to find another English speaking tax advisor in Berlin and they knew my working history.   This year I ran into financial troubles, my freelancing (very regular in past years) came to a halt due to the virus. I told my accountant of the issues - I had a large tax bill for 2018, which I was able to pay off, but I was very anxious about how I could pay my tax for 2019, not yet filed. Then I was audited - the FA found issues in two of my past tax years. Without consulting me, the accountant agreed on 'my mistakes' and passed me two new bills from the FA. They didn't explain anything to me. After a long silence and a Mahnung delivered to me after the amount was due, I had to contact the FA personally and resolve the issues - in the end it was quite simple, they needed more info from me, which I provided, that was it. During this time the accountant was putting pressure on me to send my documents for 2019. I'd made it clear that I wasn't confident in proceeding with them & was not planning to file the declaration until later this year because I couldn't afford it. They assured me I could decide later, but to send them the documents now anyway. Eventually I did, despite being hesitant - again I made my position clear.   Now they've done the work, made the calculations for 2019, and have sent me an invoice due in 10 days, which I can't afford. Exactly what I wanted to avoid. I clearly didn't want them to do this work without further discussion with me. I don't want to sign off on the tax declaration for 2019 or work with them again.   What can I do about this invoice? As many others on here, I can't afford a lawyer. Should I contact Steuerkammer Berlin?   Thank you in advance for any advice!  

Wasn´t it Sammy Davis Jr. who converted to Judaism because being a black entertainer wasn´t controversial enough?

  I honestly think  Barry wouldn't follow up, and his secretary -- whom I paid it to -- forgot the last time. Good thing I'm honest, right?

I miss Jeremy when he still was a normal albeit eccentric guy puttering about in his garden and workshop...

If you remove your name from the letterbox when you leave, then any mail which is not redirected as per Deutsche Post rules would be returned to the sender and marked as undeliverable - if things work properly. You wouldn't normally be informed about those items that are sent back - at least not by Deutsche Post.. 

France has exactly the same Emergency Movement Document as in Greece. With one exception , some funny excuses some people have been caught flouting the rules in France!     https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/23/man-fined-for-breaking-french-covid-lockdown-to-smash-a-guys-face-in

How can that justify paying more than 40% interest for borrowing the stock? I don´t get it. And would a company really bother borrowing a single stock valued at around $5? Sounds more like a teenager in training to become a shortseller.  Also, none of my stocks are German and Vodafone is the only European stock I´m holding. I simply don´t understand what that is about. But as long as I´m paid and getting cash as collateral that doesn´t stop me. Just looking to find a broker that passes on more than 50% of the interest to me. Morgan Stanley does pass through 70% but unfortunately only for US citizens (or residents - not sure).

At the time of the VAT going down I had more than 50 items on a 'watch list' or in the shopping basket on Amazon DE - when I logged in on the morning of the first day of lower VAT I was bombarded by messages because 40 items had gone down in price. Quite a saving if you then buy everything.  Aside from that Amazon have dynamic pricing and their stuff changes price constantly anyway.    A heck of a lot of items in supermarkets don't have a price that ends in .99 or .95 at the moment because they reduced the price. Others are deducting it as a percentage at the checkout instead.  So many retailers are passing on the full difference. You'll always have exceptions of course.  My guess is people will stock up to a certain extent before the end of the year. 

Interesting perspective:    

Just to add the missing note of pedantery here: If needed, you will need to look for an interpreter. Translators do written work, interpreters do verbal translation.

Hello everyone,   Would anyone be interested in trial reading a newly published English book?   Genre: Climate Fiction, Literary Fiction, Speculative.   Can give more details if anyone wants.   Thank you for your time.

TT is (or was) primarily a place where people can come for help and advice. At last I think it was setup for that reason. If people are being offensive, which leads them to being blocked, then they are in effect cutting themselves off from people who could give advice.  Given that, it makes you wonder why they are here and what their motivation is.   Not really talking about the odd second account shit thrower there, they can be very obvious, I won't name any candidates, we can all have a guess which accounts there were/are. Always seems to me that the motivation is to do what they do here as they (and I'd guess some do not) can't act in their real lives as they do here.

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Do let us know what the Mietverein has to say, please.

Did you make it April 1st? 

A trip down memory lane.  😂

I have seen his grave in Graceland, so who lies down there 😱?

What´s a "christian" church, I thought they all were, well, apart from the Mosques, temples, sacred trees and of course the pubs of the Pastafarians

Update: pin letter was received after 4 weeks. online status changed to "Dokument ist unbekannt" after 10 weeks. I hope this means the documents were ready and posted. still waiting for the IDs..

Miso soup and brown rice! I alwys slightly dry roast the brown rice in in the pot until it smells toasty, then prepare. A pressure cooker cuts cooking time to about 20 minutes.

I also have a question regarding the application process duration of Einbürgerung in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.   I sent the Amt an email in July2020 and recieved after 4 weeks an email that I have been put in a waiting list. Recently I came to know that the process duration vary from Bezirk to Bezirk in all of the steps ranging from waiting periods, application start and process duration.   I also came to know for example that in Bezirk Steglitz it is a bit quicker as compared to in Charlottenburg.    Would any one share his/her experience regarding this?   Is it practical to change the residence and live in another Bezirk where the process might not take that long??   Would be looking forward to your opinions!

No, it's not a fixed amount. The terms specify a Sondertilgung of "up to" a certain percentage. So if that percentage is 5%, you can pay anything up to that amount.   You should also shop around: I mentioned that some banks charge extra for the Sondertilgung option, but some don't (for up to 5%/year at least).   There are many loan comparison sites out there - verivox.de, finanzcheck.de, finanztip.de are just a few. They all let you specify Sondertilgung as a search and comparison option.    

Today is Goldie Hawn's 75th birthday

Shameless plug that deserves to be the butt of many jokes.. People will positively vibrate with laughter..