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> Taxes, Frustration, More Taxes Uh, that's how I could describe my current situation in Germany. We were a little too successful last year and now the tax adv

> Taxes, Frustration, More Taxes Uh, that's how I could describe my current situation in Germany. We were a little too successful last year and now the tax advance payments are endangering our liquidity. It feels as if this year I had spent more time reading about taxes and regulations than working on the business. Something is wrong when taxes become such a prominent part of your daily business life ...

LambdaAlmighty 13y ago
My friend, remember the Government Koan and persist. You have a long way ahead of you: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.
mtrimpe 13y ago
I'm not sure it's the same in Germany as in the Netherlands, but I'd recommend getting a good tax lawyer. Our tax company generally tends to lay down strong demands (which makes sense,) but becomes very lenient when it's clear they're more likely to recover the full amount by being patient.
demoncore 13y ago
Interesting to hear the German perspective. If you could share any more anonymous data e.g. tax rates, what you would have done in retrospect, etc I would very much appreciate it. No hard feelings if you can't.
glasz 13y ago
> Something is wrong when taxes become such a prominent part of your daily business life ... it's not just business life. i once watched a talk of a professor of law who said the ethical side of laws (tax law specifically) obligates them (even by a guideline, i thin) to be readable and digestable by every person to whom this law applies. he said, since this is clearly not the case in germany anymore our tax laws are thus rendered unjust and invalid. he obviously is right. now, good luck in front of the supreme court of our great democracy. of course, this discussion perfectly stretches into the area of tax evasion and if and/or why there's much incentive for doing so. also, isn't the state of tax laws only incriminating people by making tax evasion a crime due to the law being overly excessive on one side and undigestable on the other?
marvin 13y ago
In Norway, you have to pay net worth tax of 1% of your assets in excess of ~$200,000. So if you own 2 million of stock in an unlisted company, you are on the hook for $20,000 in additional taxes every year. Most successful entrepeneurs here have to sell stock every year just to pay their tax bill. Company profits tax of 27%, capital gains tax of 28% and personal income tax of ~35% ensures that you even in the best case get to keep <50% of the profits your company makes, even before the annual net worth tax comes into play. Some successful businessmen in cyclic businesses here have emigrated purely because paying the full tax every year would deplete their companies' rainy day buffers. (We also have a 25% VAT on all consumer purchases, including "compulsory" products purchased from the state such as the national broadcasting license or local government residential parking permits). And still you read in the newspaper every other week of someone wanting to create the "new Silicon Valley" in some Norwegian city. It's delusional; the incentives are completely wrong.

LambdaAlmighty 13y ago

My friend, remember the Government Koan and persist. You have a long way ahead of you: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.

mtrimpe 13y ago

I'm not sure it's the same in Germany as in the Netherlands, but I'd recommend getting a good tax lawyer. Our tax company generally tends to lay down strong demands (which makes sense,) but becomes very lenient when it's clear they're more likely to recover the full amount by being patient.

demoncore 13y ago

Interesting to hear the German perspective. If you could share any more anonymous data e.g. tax rates, what you would have done in retrospect, etc I would very much appreciate it. No hard feelings if you can't.

glasz 13y ago

> Something is wrong when taxes become such a prominent part of your daily business life ... it's not just business life. i once watched a talk of a professor of law who said the ethical side of laws (tax law specifically) obligates them (even by a guideline, i thin) to be readable and digestable by every person to whom this law applies. he said, since this is clearly not the case in germany anymore our tax laws are thus rendered unjust and invalid. he obviously is right. now, good luck in front of the supreme court of our great democracy. of course, this discussion perfectly stretches into the area of tax evasion and if and/or why there's much incentive for doing so. also, isn't the state of tax laws only incriminating people by making tax evasion a crime due to the law being overly excessive on one side and undigestable on the other?

marvin 13y ago

In Norway, you have to pay net worth tax of 1% of your assets in excess of ~$200,000. So if you own 2 million of stock in an unlisted company, you are on the hook for $20,000 in additional taxes every year. Most successful entrepeneurs here have to sell stock every year just to pay their tax bill. Company profits tax of 27%, capital gains tax of 28% and personal income tax of ~35% ensures that you even in the best case get to keep <50% of the profits your company makes, even before the annual net worth tax comes into play. Some successful businessmen in cyclic businesses here have emigrated purely because paying the full tax every year would deplete their companies' rainy day buffers. (We also have a 25% VAT on all consumer purchases, including "compulsory" products purchased from the state such as the national broadcasting license or local government residential parking permits). And still you read in the newspaper every other week of someone wanting to create the "new Silicon Valley" in some Norwegian city. It's delusional; the incentives are completely wrong.