Sumarokov-Elston

Many thanks. I will try what you suggest.   I was also looking at this. Do you think these are viable suggestions?   https://consumer.huawei.com/za/support/content/en-us00434874/  

Hi, many thanks. My internet speed is all over the place. 2.9 Mbps one minute, 4.0 Mbps the next, then 2.1 Mbps, then 2.7...   This morning I was unable to do an online verification; this afternoon it worked without a hitch.    

Hi. I have noticed that the people on here are very clued up technically on internet and broadband issues. I am not tech-savvy at all, so I am posting here to see if I can get any advice.   For internet at home, I signed up for Congstar Homespot, which I have found to be very good, especially as I was moving addresses and you can change for a payment of 20 euros. I am using my own Huawei E5776S router with their SIM card, rather than buy a Congstar router, as I had it anyway. I notice that I only get two bars at most of 4G (on the router page information), but the full five bars shows on my PC. In any case, I do not notice any issues with connectivity, as I am pretty limited in what I do online anyway and so my PC works just fine.   However, I bought a Nokia 5.3 mobile phone and I have noticed that things like video conferencing are seriously slow when I try it through this home Wifi connection. Same with downloading anything. So can someone suggest: is the problem here likely to be down to the mobile phone itself or the router?   The reason I am asking is that knowing the probable reason would help me to better solve the problem with the connectivity problems on the smartphone, i.e. get a better router for the Homespot or get a separate mobile-phone deal and SIM card for when I need to use my smartphone (rarely, it has to be said)?   Thanks for any insights.

  As far as I know, you are even fine applying AFTER 30th June, as it is more a case of taking up rights enshrined by law, as it were. If you apply after this date, it might make things harder overall, but you keep the same rights you always had. This is specific to Germany, of course; other countries are a different case.   For my part, all I received was an acknowledgement from the local office that they had received my email declaration and a sentence that they have a high volume of mail, so usually take a couple of weeks to answer. But I left it until I moved to a different Bundesland this month, just so as not to avoid any confusion over applying to one office and then being registered elsewhere (although it is stated in the official advice that this is not a problem).   Because this is not a pressing issue, really, in terms of "rights", I can imagine that the Brits applying for residence are not treated as urgent compared to potentially more pressing business at these offices, so are put on the back burner...

Wonderful, it works. Thanks so much. I was confused as it was prompting me to tick both.    

I am a freelancer (translator) and filling out the above form on Elster. I had four "mistakes" when I reached the end and checked everything, managed to solve three...   But I cannot get my head around the final "conflict". I think it might be linked to whether I should tick the following boxes or not:   Kleinunternehmer-Regelung  Hilfe zum Begriff anzeigen Zeile 134 Der auf das Kalenderjahr hochgerechnete Gesamtumsatz wird die Grenze des § 19 Absatz 1 UStG voraussichtlich nicht überschreiten. Es wird die Kleinunternehmer-Regelung in Anspruch genommen. In Rechnungen wird keine Umsatzsteuer gesondert ausgewiesen und es kann kein Vorsteuerabzug geltend gemacht werden. Hinweis: Angaben zur Soll-/Istversteuerung der Entgelte sind nicht erforderlich; Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldungen sind grundsätzlich nicht zu übermitteln. Zeile 135 Der auf das Kalenderjahr hochgerechnete Gesamtumsatz wird die Grenze des § 19 Absatz 1 UStG voraussichtlich nicht überschreiten. Es wird auf die Anwendung der Kleinunternehmer-Regelung verzichtet. Die Besteuerung erfolgt nach den allgemeinen Vorschriften des Umsatzsteuergesetzes für mindestens fünf Kalenderjahre (§ 19 Absatz 2 UStG); Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldungen sind monatlich in elektronischer Form authentifiziert zu übermitteln. However, when I try ticking these boxes, I get:   Die Felder 'Der auf das Kalenderjahr hochgerechnete Gesamtumsatz wird die Grenze des § 19 Absatz 1 UStG voraussichtlich nicht überschreiten. Es wird die Kleinunternehmer-Regelung in Anspruch genommen. In Rechnungen wird keine Umsatzsteuer gesondert ausgewiesen und es kann kein Vorsteuerabzug geltend gemacht werden. Hinweis: Angaben zur Soll-/Istversteuerung der Entgelte sind nicht erforderlich; Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldungen sind grundsätzlich nicht zu übermitteln.' und 'Der auf das Kalenderjahr hochgerechnete Gesamtumsatz wird die Grenze des § 19 Absatz 1 UStG voraussichtlich nicht überschreiten. Es wird auf die Anwendung der Kleinunternehmer-Regelung verzichtet. Die Besteuerung erfolgt nach den allgemeinen Vorschriften des Umsatzsteuergesetzes für mindestens fünf Kalenderjahre (§ 19 Absatz 2 UStG); Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldungen sind monatlich in elektronischer Form authentifiziert zu übermitteln.' wurden gemeinsam angegeben. Dies ist unzulässig.   The thing is, I hate filling out tax forms (HMRC are the same) when you are just a freelancer, but you are "pretending" to be a business. So I am wary of ticking them, even though the system is suggesting this is where the solution might lie.   I should add that this will not be the end of it and, even if someone can provide authoritative advice on the above question, this will probably inevitably lead to a second question.   For reference purposes, I just do the occasional translation or two to earn a few thousand euros. Otherwise, I am living off savings (but obviously I still need to fill this out).    

To be honest, I have been thinking the same thing myself recently. I am quite an "old school" person, but I have been looking into Fidor Bank and Wise (formerly Transferwise).  

Can someone help with the following question?   I am trying to change my address on Elster, as I am moving to a different Land (from Niedersachsen to Nordrhein-Westfalen).   I have a Steuernummer in the FF/BBB/UUUUP format.   But Nordrhein-Westfalen uses the FFF/BBBB/UUUP. Elster will only let me choose four (UUUP), but I have five (UUUUP).   So which four of the five should I choose? Omit the first or the final digit? I think the final, but I am not sure (my first is 0 and my last is also 0).  

I am currently using Steuer Go to fill out a tax return for 2020, because I was under the impression that it could handle foreign income (from freelance work).   My situation is quite tricky. I was only in Germany for the last two months of 2020. Before then I was all in the UK. My single source of income in 2020 was from a third country and was when I was in the UK. But obviously, I still need to supply all the details to my Finanzamt.   As I understand it, my aforementioned one-off payment for freelance work would qualify as "Form AUS (foreign income and taxes)", right? Not "Form S incl. Form EÜR"?   But the prompt on Steuer Go tells me "The following income tax return forms are not available: Form AUS - Foreign income and taxes"   So should I be using different software to fill out my tax form, one which supports Form AUS?

I am bumping up this thread, as I have been asked to provide a Certificate of fiscal residence (i.e. Ansässigkeitsbescheinigung) by a foreign institution before they can pay me for doing freelance work for them. This is because they are very strict/afraid of their own tax people.   I have done this before with HMRC and it does not seem complicated in Germany.   The thing is this. The foreign institution want to pay me in the forthcoming months, for work I have already done, but ask that I provide them with a certificate already covering that period, i.e. in advance.   I am not sure if the German tax authorities will do this? I have just moved (end of last year), have the tax number and all, but I will in theory (in my mind) only become a tax resident once I reach the middle of this year. For example, how do the tax people here know that I will not leave before then and so not be a tax resident (I do not even know myself).   I am asking in case anyone has experience of this and knows if I can get this. I see that the German version is slightly different from the UK certificate - it does not list any dates, it just seems to say "in Deutschland ansässig ist/is resident in Germany"...   I can provide further information if I have not been terribly clear. Thanks.  

Thanks, I have been looking into these routers and they do seem to be the way to go. Some friends recommended Congstar.

I am resurrecting this thread as I will probably be living in a place soon where I will require buying a surf stick for my internet.   I am looking for a way to access internet via my laptop and I reckon a PAYG surf stick is the best option.   I do not know my exact address yet, so cannot check yet about the availability, but it should be able to access the main providers (centre of small provincial town).   I was thinking of going with the Congstar prepaid internet stick after doing my own research. Does anyone here have any better recommendations or warnings against this company? I do a lot of web browsing, but very little streaming and prefer simplicity and functionality over anything else.    

For UK nationals: cut-off date 30 June 2021 If you are a UK national living in Germany on 31 December 2020 and continuing to live in Germany after that date, you must report your residence to the foreigners authority responsible for your place of residence by 30 June 2021 in order to be able to obtain the new residence document. Many authorities enable this to be done online. You do not need to make an application. Registration with the residents’ registration office is not sufficient! We recommend that you do not wait until the last minute to report your residence.   https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/faqs/EN/topics/constitution/brexit/faqs-brexit.html  

Can anyone think of ways that changing address to another Land right now might really complicate things?   I have not been contacted at all. I am currently living in Niedersachsen, but will need to move around a month or so from now.   I have an option of a place just over the border in NRW or possibly in Hesse.   At a push, I could find accommodation in Niedersachsen; this would be less desirable, but I might be swayed if it avoids a holy mess.   [Associated question: what are the main hassles from moving to another Land in terms of bureaucracy? I cannot think of anything major but maybe there are some things I don't know about? Insurance and tax registration would seem to make no difference...]   Thanks for any insights anyone can give.

Hope I'm not hijacking this thread, do not want to stray from the topic. But I notice that to travel currently to the UK, you need to have a negative coronavirus test written in English, Spanish or French. Not German... interesting, can you get a print-out of your results here in English? Translations are not allowed, it has to be the correct language in the original...