sos-the-rope

So I used my awesome Ausweis app login for the first time this year, thinking I would do my final German tax return online like a modern person.   I don't need to do it, I was not freelancing, it's just for the odd quid they normally refund from my boring old income tax. I don't have (or need, AFAIK) any cert. I could login in just fine.   Oh, how wrong I was. The Ausweis app works beautifully, if weirdly, but the Elster system itself just collapsed before I could even start filling in forms.   2 emails to the helpdesk and they've given up answering as well. Anyone else managed to do a simple income tax return from abroad via Elster? Know the secret helpline to get someone to just fix your account?

Aparently there was a massive data leak from tegut customer cards. I am pretty F ing angry at them. Presumably it was down to bad IT security. Typisch.   Anyone heard what kind of BS results from this? Has there been any news report about people affected, or do you know anyone who had to deal with some BS due to this?

  One thing I would start out with is: I'm not and never have been an "expat" here. I'm a dual citizen now, but even before (Br*xit) I considered myself at home due to being a fellow EU citizen. I knew German before I came and I felt like I really belonged. Sure, some things were a difficult adjustment (work culture!) but honestly there are issues with most aspects of adult life in every country. Better to deal with them in Germany than almost anywhere else these days.   Now I've moved again within the EU, when I really wanted to stay in Germany. But family is family. I still hold out hopes of going back to FFM because it's the best city in the world.

Wow. People arguing about stuff that you can learn in high school.   It's like I never went away.