Mackle

    That'a not surreal, it's bloody useful!!

  As the UK's settled status scheme is not affected by the bill (and this is the UK's interpretation of the citizens right's portion of the Withdrawal agreement), I don't think the result of the bill passing is going to be the EU declaring that British citizens in procession of no other nation's passport must be expelled forthwith.    It is more likely that it would be some sort of arbitration or a levy of some sort of fine or sanction.

  I saw this earlier, it is yet another example of a Dominic Cummings blog post or idea from his Chatham House talk, becoming government policy.

  It never ceases to amaze me of how useless this man is, yet (like with Mark Francois) his constituents seem all too happy to keep voting him in.   He was waxing lyrical about that deal in December, and now we go year zero and anything said pre-Feb 1st cannot be referenced.   I remember seeing him sitting next to Pascal Lamy talking about WTO and how a no-deal Brexit would work, and Lamy's facial expressions of shock and disbelief at the drivel coming out of IDS mouth were priceless - he was delivering it in such a smarmy way, and seemed to be strongly insinuating that he knew more about how the WTO worked and how the rules applied, more than Lamy who had not only ran the WTO but been reelected during his time running it as well!

I had an answer of sorts from a Steuerberater - if I do not leave the apartment and abmeldung, the entire Dubai salary (minus 5% witholding) would be taxable in Germany.   I do not know if that means taxable in the same way that salaried income is, or if there are different tax rules that apply to it.

  What defines being away for six months though? If you are renting a place, continuing to pay health insurance, and your passport is badging in to the country every couple of months, then how is that different from the Swiss permit G holder who "forgets" to return back across the border to Germany once a week?

  On the Wundertax.de site, it seems to suggest that if you rent a second home to be closer to work, that if the second home is in a different country it can be up to 60sqm2 and a thousand euros a month, and it is tax deductable.   Maybe that is how people do it?

  Its apparently going to be a declaratory system so possibly less than with most things  

  There is a draft law that grants a new status of "alt Britisch" to those already here and charges nearly €30 for a card that confirms that status

  If I had been in Germany for five years, and had been given whatever ends up being introduced to cover the withdrawal agreement, then this would also be the case (once Germany decides upon how to implement the W.A.).   But as I have only been here for 2.5 years, I only get 6 months grace.

  A sign of everything that is wrong with the modern world.

  Yes, certainly sentences starting with "Angela Merkel throwing open the doors..." and containing some ridiculous reference to those refugees and migrants ending up in the UK, were frequently heard from the likes of Nigel Farage and Gerrard Batten. 

Not sure if it relates to importing phones, but I did see at the Fechenheim Zollamt what appeared to be a person getting an android box confiscated because it didn't have a CE marking on it - unlike when I lived in the UK where sometimes you didn't even get charged the customs charge at all, let alone have to open the package in front of the world, the Fechenheim Zollamt staff want you to open your package on the counter, and then answer 20 questions about it.    I had something sent to me on valentines day last year, that said "gift" on the customs form, and I was asked if I could obtain the receipt from the person who had purchased it. She was standing next to me, showed the invoice on the phone, and I had to pay a charge on it.

  Well, you can't really put a price on that sort of stuff, @Keleth...

  In my case, that would mean having to continue paying rent, continue paying for health insurance, and I would presume having to submit tax returns (and pay German tax on my Dubai earnings?)