A tax code worthy of American emulation.

[DevoBill]

http://www.toytowngermany.com/wiki/German_taxes

RUNDFUNKGEBUEHREN - TV Tax: if you have a TV or radio in your house, you have to pay for a license for it. You can get the forms at the post office (GEZ) so the tax can be deducted automatically from your bank account. A whopping €17.03 per month!

[freeradical]

I had to pay radio tax for my car in Italy. The amount you had to pay was based upon the taxable horsepower of your engine. Truly bizarre. Those European governments are pretty creative in finding new ways to confiscate peoples wealth.

[NeverMind]

and for some reason they live longer, healthier, happier lives.....

[freeradical]

When you buy something in a store in Italy, you must keep your receipt. Agents of the Guardia di Finanza can stop you and demand to see your receipt. If you can't produce a receipt, you can be arrested for tax evasion. You've just got to love those European value added taxes...

[NeverMind]

sounds like the Patriot Act

[freeradical]

NeverMind wrote:
and for some reason they live longer, healthier, happier lives.....

Oh? One of the ways that people define themselves is by what they do for a living. There are a number of European countries with chronic double digit unemployment. I don't think that I'd be very happy if I was out of work for years on end trying to make do with a welfare check from the state.

[DevoBill]

I can only speak for Germans I knew ( I lived in Germany for two years) they were only happy because of all the drugs and drinking they were doing. Some were happy with the career options selected for them at age twelve. Yes very happy indeed.

[mattkime]

>>Oh? One of the ways that people define themselves is by what they do for a living. There are a number of European countries

Thats an extremely american way to define yourself.

[Black Landlord]

DevoBill wrote:
I can only speak for Germans I knew ( I lived in Germany for two years) they were only happy because of all the drugs and drinking they were doing. Some were happy with the career options selected for them at age twelve. Yes very happy indeed.

I lived in Germany for 6 years, "on the economy" as you folks would say. I felt very sorry for the americans living in their little american McMayberries, completely "protected" from learning anything about a foreign culture.
Just curious-- how did you meet these germans you knew?

[NeverMind]

DevoBill wrote:
I can only speak for Germans I knew ( I lived in Germany for two years) they were only happy because of all the drugs and drinking they were doing. Some were happy with the career options selected for them at age twelve. Yes very happy indeed.

So what was it like being alive in 1503?

Geesh, do you people read this stuff on Drudge?