Winter is here and I already want to leave. I need a vacation. I've been stressed to the max over the last couple of weeks and I'm just not looking forward to my future here.
I opened my business number at the revenue office on Monday. That should make me happy but The day I went I had an appointment with an accountant to see whether I'd need to pay into this new tax the stupid country I live in has decided to lay on its residents.
The new law is this: Anyone living in the country who owns property outside the country must pay tax on that property as if it were in the country. The tax is 0.76% based on the value of the property.
When my mother died she left me and my sister a house. It's in a beautiful part of the country I grew up in and is worth a fair amount on the market because of the land it sits on. The cottage itself is worth somewhere around 17,000 dollars.... nothing. The land on the other hand is worth over 550,000.
Let's get this straight. I pay over 3,000 dollars in property tax back home. The country where I live now is asking me to pay 0,76% on the value and deduct the 3,000 dollars a month, leaving me with around 800 Euros to pay a year here, divide that in half (because I own half the house) and I have to pay between 400/500 dollars a year in taxes to this stupid government, a government I can't even vote in... (granted the guy at the office had his calculations right and I remember them correctly). It's not admittedly a ton of money, I can deal with it, it's the principle that pisses me off.
Let's get something else straight. I can legally make a maximum of 5000 Euros a year because of the type contracts people dish out for English teaching here.
Please tell me how I'm supposed to survive on that amount after rent, food and bills. It's lucky, so to speak, that I have my private students.
It all makes me want to go home. Today, for the first time ever I seriously contemplated moving back home. I contemplated looking at rent prices and jobs. I haven't yet, but the temptation is huge.
this law has got to be challenged in court. How can they tax you on property outside their country that's not generating any income? The audacity of that kind of law shows how far all governments will go in order to fun their ambitions. And it's not just there, it's in the US, the UK, every govt is stealing as much money as they can from their citizens, residents, visitors....
ReplyDeleteCan you put the house in your sister's name for now? DO you trust her enough to do that? :-)
And, if you need a vacation, I can give you some very specific addresses.....
:-)
That's insane! I must say though that 5000 euros/month seems like a decent salary to me... but maybe cost of living is high where you are. Hope there's some kind of solution to the tax thing. I'm all fór taxes but there has to be some kind of reason to it.
ReplyDeleteCanada wants you back. A fan from home.
ReplyDelete