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Warning: the following is completely, utterly off topic, but it might amuse some. I just days ago solved a minor, but real 2021 tax problem related to the 1975

Warning: the following is completely, utterly off topic, but it might amuse some. I just days ago solved a minor, but real 2021 tax problem related to the 1975 USSR ruble exchange rate. My significant other and I own a modest countryside property in Latvia, EU. We live in Belgium. Belgian real estate taxes on foreign property are calculated based upon a fictitious 1975 rental income. Don't ask why. Only: - Latvia was Soviet occupied in 1975. - There were no market rates for home rentals in 1975 Soviet Latvia. - Belgium used the Belgian franc at the time and has moved to the euro since. - The Soviet Union at the time used rubles. Trustworthy exchange rates were tricky. - Since 1975, Latvia has gone through Soviet ruble (1975-1991), Latvian Ruble or "repšiki" (1991-1993), Latvian lats (1991-2013) and euro (2014- current). I just know that: - A decent 1970's Soviet wage would have been around 100 SUR. - Housing usually cost about 3 percent of one's wage. Let's say 3 SUR/month, or 36 SUR/year. - In 1975, USDSUR was about 0.73 using the limited use highly artificial official exchange rate [0]. - On 19750701, USDBEF was 35.44 BEF [1]. - BEF was converted to EUR in 2001 at 40.3399 BEF. So the highest possible taxation base for our real estate taxation probably should be 43.32€ (36 SUR/.73 USDSUR*35.44USDBEF/40.3390BEFEUR). Quite sure the tax man will be amused. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_ruble#Historical_official_exchange_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_ruble#Historical_offici... [1] https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/bank-of-england-spot/historical-spot-exchange-rates/usd/USD-to-BEF-1975 https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/bank-of-england-spot/histo...

nsonha 5y ago
> Housing usually cost about 3 percent of one's wage And people tell me Socialism was bad
- thrwway34 5y ago
  Yep. You can have dirt-cheap housing (which won't be yours btw) and cheap transportation, but you will have to overpay for rest of the goods. And wait in extraordinary long queues. You can experience some of the that life yourself - in North Korea or Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia for example.
  - nsonha 5y ago
    I'm from Vietnam and not old enough to have lived though the communist days but my first family house was the one my dad had gotten from his job. It was ours, he sold it after 10 years, maybe communism in Vietnam was not as strict as others. I have definitely heard stories about food stamps and queuing for foods.

nsonha 5y ago

> Housing usually cost about 3 percent of one's wage And people tell me Socialism was bad

thrwway34 5y ago
Yep. You can have dirt-cheap housing (which won't be yours btw) and cheap transportation, but you will have to overpay for rest of the goods. And wait in extraordinary long queues. You can experience some of the that life yourself - in North Korea or Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia for example.
- nsonha 5y ago
  I'm from Vietnam and not old enough to have lived though the communist days but my first family house was the one my dad had gotten from his job. It was ours, he sold it after 10 years, maybe communism in Vietnam was not as strict as others. I have definitely heard stories about food stamps and queuing for foods.