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Need help from the Germans
15 replies
StillFar said on November 11, 2005 18:27:
Hey,
just wanted to know, what percentage of your salary do you guys spend on the rent (including electricity & water)?
I’d really appreciate some responses!
StillFar said on November 14, 2005 15:27:
@roxgirl: thanks! 50%, that’s a lot!!!!
@ally: passed that stage...looking for a flat already
Roxfever said on November 14, 2005 18:20:
Really? Where are you going to live? And why? (if I may ask). I really wonder why so many people want ot move to Germany. There are so many beautiful countries and they come to Germany. I don’t get it. I mean it’s not bad, but it isn’t exactly paradise either... StillFar, you’re from Canada, aren’t you? Now that’s a country I would move to :-)
StillFar said on November 14, 2005 18:59:
I’m going to move to Cologne and reason is that I received a job offer which I shouldn’t refuse ;).
I grew up in Europe and moved to Canada in 1999, which is a great country and I’ve had a wonderful time here, but I guess I just reached the end of one cycle and it’s time to move on.
Besides the Worldcup is coming up (don’t forget Vix)...so it’s about time :).
roxgirl_germany said on November 14, 2005 21:11:
Oh, Cologne. That is not exactly a cheap place. But you’ll manage. Good luck and hope you’ll like it in Germany.
If you are looking for people from the Cologne area, go to www.roxetteforum.com, register yourself and post in “Kontaktforum”. There are a few fans around.
P.S. When you get the first pay cheque, please don’t faint when you realise that they deduct almost 50% of your salary for tax and social security (and church tax of course)...
Roxfever said on November 14, 2005 22:31:
So let’s face the facts:
100% = your salary
- 50% rent
- 50 % water, heating etc.
- 50% taxes, social security, etc.
—————–
-50% at the end of each month. lol *g*
per_mson said on November 14, 2005 23:36:
But at least if one compare the rest of EU germany is not that expensive to live in. If one look at the total tax pressure (which you have to do if you live in that specific country) it looks like this:
Sweden - 50,6%
Denmark - 48,9%
Belgium - 46,6%
Finland - 45,9%
Austria - 44,4%
France - 44,2%
Luxemburg - 41,9%
Italy - 41,7%
Germany - 40,2%
Slovenia - 39,8%
Netherlands- 39,5%
Poland - 39,1%
Hungary - 38,8%
Portugal - 36,3%
Greece - 36,2%
Spain - 36,2%
United Kingdom - 35,8%
Czech - 35,4%
Estonia - 35,2%
Slovakia - 33,0%
Cyprus - 32,5%
Latvia - 31,3%
Malta - 31,3%
Lituania - 28,8%
Ireland - 28,6%
So sure, Germany IS an expensive country to live in, but there are still 8 countries that are worse! ;-)
At least something you can be happy about, Stillfar!!
roxgirl_germany said on November 15, 2005 08:51:
They will have to adapt this statistics after the new government was elected. “The Coalition of Cruelties” has decided to limit the possibilities of “normal” people like you and me to deduct expenses from the income tax (which means that “normal” people can hardly deduct anything anymore and it is probably getting quite pointless to sit down and work on your tax declaration because you won’t get back anything anyway).
They are going to increase the VAT and insurance tax and the percentage you have to pay for the retirement pensions. I don’t want to know what else they have in mind. I am still waiting for the moment to wake up from this nightmare...
per_mson said on November 15, 2005 09:27:
Well, the statistics will of course be adapted from year to year. But I do not believe for a second that Germany will beat Sweden here. You will maybe go up to 5th or 6th instead. We do, as you maybe know, also have a crazy government who are increasing taxes all the time (and so does most of the other countries). I know that you have a lot of problems for the moment, but Germany is still far from the worst country in the EU when it comes to how much you have to pay. This even if a lot of Germans seem to think so.
I heard the suggestions the new German government came up with and I actually thought the ideas sounded ok. Hard, but I guess the only way to do something about your situation. To put more tax on people earning a lot for instance is good I think, cause you can’t take money from those who don’t have any.
In Sweden we are used to this. On every SEK you earn that is above (I think the limit is this nowadays) 23.000SEK you pay 50% tax.
roxgirl_germany said on November 15, 2005 11:54:
I guess we have to be happy then that the 3 % extra tax is only applicable for people earning more than 250,000 Euros per year...
The really annoying thing is that you cannot deduct as much anymore for your expenses that you have when you go to work. That alone is going to cost me about 50 Euros per month - and the higher VAT (that is also going to make petrol more expensive AGAIN) and higher contributions for social security haven’t even been included yet.
I am convinced that quite some part-time workers will take out their pocket calculators and check if it is still worth to go to work or if it’s cheaper for them to stay at home...
Roxfever said on November 15, 2005 13:13:
Yes, you are right roxgirl but I also think that our situation isn’t very differfent from that in other countries. This doesn’t mean we don’t have to complain about it. We do as our new government is a bad joke but I doubt that life in the UK, France, Sweden, Italy, etc. is be better as far as money is conderned.
per_mson said on November 15, 2005 15:33:
@roxfever: True words!!
@roxgirl: Yes, I understand your situation and I agree that all this of course feel crap for you! I am the first one to think that our taxes (no matter where in Europe) are too high. But how high will your VAT be for instance? I know you have 16% now (compared to Sweden’s 25%). And what things are you no longer allowed to deduct from your tax declaration?
roxgirl_germany said on November 16, 2005 08:04:
VAT will be 19%. Yes, lower than in Sweden but increasing it by 3% from one day to another will just lead to people saving even more and consuming even less - and that is not the way to make the economy going again (apart from the fact that you have to have these 3% more first before you can go and buy something).
I always could deduct money from taxes for going to work (= expenses for train, car/petrol, etc.) which was about the only thing that a “normal” person could deduct from tax. That they want to cut that is going to cost me about 50Euros net per month. I am just checking what expense I could cut to make up for that.
Also when saving money, you had 1,421Euros as interests per year that were exempt from taxation = you got the interests and could keep them up to that amount. Now the amount is cut to 750Euros. What is above is cut by 30% plus solidarity surcharge plus church tax. I don’t know about the rest of Germany but _I_ am not saving money to give it or its revenues to the state. I’d rather put the money under my pillow...
roxgirl_germany said on November 16, 2005 08:09:
@Roxfever: Yes, in every country people have to carry a certain burden. When seeing it overall, there is hardly a difference.
In some countries, the income is more heavily taxated than in other countries (like Germany vs. Sweden), therefore other countries have lower indirect taxes compared to other ones (like Germany vs. Sweden).
roxgirl_germany said on November 11, 2005 20:30:
Something between 30 and 50 %, I’d guess. The “side costs” (water, heating, electricity, etc.) have almost become a “second rent” (given the amount they tend to reach).