Being taxed by Germany

[HeyEng]

So apparently certain members of the Armed Forces stationed in Germany are being taxed by various local German authorities. They say if your job is not essential to the defense of NATO you are there voluntarily and not only are they taxing you on you base pay but also consider the on-base gym, commissary, BX, shoppet, clothing sales, etc. an additional benefit to your tax liability!

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2022-04-12/tax-germany-us-troops-eucom-pentagon-5661053.html

[nunya]

lol.  So they're going to increase their Defense spending but still pass the bill to Uncle Sam.  

[HeyEng]

Except Uncle Sam has not been paying the tax that the service member allegedly owes!
The poor service members have had to fend for themselves. DOD is just now doing a survey to see how many people have been affected by this!

Edited April 19, 2022 by HeyEng

[LiquidSky]

This has been going on for years. The article is a good sumarry of stripes other coverage but it's ridiculous it's taking so long to get traction.

Blinken, unaware of Germany’s tax penalties on US military personnel, says he will get involved

US Air Force employee handed over couple’s purchase records, leading to $300,000 tax bill from Germans

Harassed’ by German tax offices, more US military families face financial threats

 I think it's a crime that the military hasn't been providing service members with legal support to fight this. Definitely something folks impacted should continue to be writing to their senator and ambassador about.

Edited April 19, 2022 by LiquidSky

[FLEA]

Its particularly a problem in Kaiserslautern. The US population there is so large and the city feels its being unfairly required to provide municipal services to Americans that don't pay into the tax system. EUCOM knows about it but refuses to do anything because they either believe its a DOS responsibility or it will upset German partner relations. Worse yet, it was revealed OSI at Ramstein has been approached, and has leaked info on members to German tax authorities to assist in their investigations. (Things like frequency of gym use, commissary shopping, etc...) 

When CMSAF visited last year she was asked about what was being done and she was completely unaware of the issue which tells me EUCOM and USAFE are completely dropping the ball because it is definitely going up their channels on a routine bases.

One thing that has really frustrated me working in EUCOM over PACOM is that in EUCOM we absolutely bend over on a daily basis to European governments and let them interpret their SOFAs however they want. We do not protect our forces or our assets from liability here at all. 

Things that will make you particularly vulnerable: Marrying a German citizen, buying instead of renting your home, purchasing any time share or vacation property, registering with your city, registering in the census, registering your pets, your spouse getting employment in Germany or remotely in the US but working from Germany, or anything else that could be construed as an intention to reside within Germany full time. 

Edit: Wanted to add some new vulnerabilities I've thought of: enrolling your children in German schools or a child attending German university.

Edited April 19, 2022 by FLEA

[dream big]

What kind of communist BS is this? I wouldn’t pay a single cent and write to every congressman I could.  And they criticized Trump when he talked about moving our bases out of Germany and potentially into friendlier countries like Poland. 

[chase]

13 hours ago, FLEA said:

many words

First hand knowledge:

It's the tax office in Kusel causing the problem, not Kaiserslautern. Apparently the problem started '18 with new leadership in Kusel. Go figure.

OSI  don't even get me started...

Edited April 19, 2022 by chase

[slc]

On 4/18/2022 at 10:46 PM, FLEA said:

buying instead of renting your home

Interesting.  Buddy of mine recently purchased a home outskirts of Ktown because it was financially beneficial vs renting for a few years.  The only drawback was something about capital gains tax (ridiculous amount) upon the sale of the property etc?

[FLEA]

48 minutes ago, slc said:

Interesting.  Buddy of mine recently purchased a home outskirts of Ktown because it was financially beneficial vs renting for a few years.  The only drawback was something about capital gains tax (ridiculous amount) upon the sale of the property etc?

He definitely needs to be careful. There is no "guaranteed" safe way to go about it. What is happening is the German authorities are using things like this as evidence to say that the service member has intentions to remain long term in Germany, and that their job for the US DoD is only a secondary factor of their being here. Then they argue that this invalidates their SOFA status. 

Edited April 20, 2022 by FLEA

[LiquidSky]

1 hour ago, slc said:

Interesting.  Buddy of mine recently purchased a home outskirts of Ktown because it was financially beneficial vs renting for a few years.  The only drawback was something about capital gains tax (ridiculous amount) upon the sale of the property etc?

Capital gains on German property only applies if it has not been your primary residence for either 2 or 3 years prior to selling. If that is not the case then you must have owned it for 10 years or owe 25% on the gains. Intent is to prevent property flipping/speculation.

[Clayton Bigsby]