Captain's Blog 14122007
...I just received a letter from some government bureaucracy and this is the translation:
(Hello, this is yet another branch of the German government. We have been alerted by the city hall that you have registered your address to live here for an indeterminate amount of time. Due to the fact that we live in the Western world, we respect your humanity and care about your rights as a human person. Also because you live in the Western world, we assume that you have a television or radio. You should be notified that your ownership of said television or radio (or any other media device), is highly respected in this country. You will, of course, be expected to pay us a monthly fee for having this radio or television in your possession. Enclosed is a form where you can tell us exactly how many of these items you own, and then you can put your bank account down so we can deduct this from your account in the coming months. If you refuse to return this form you are enrolling in our highly respectful auditing program to ensure that you are accurately paying for your german media consumption. -With friendly greetings, Bureaucracy)
I'm placing this on the internet for everyone to know. I don't own a TV or radio, and even if i did I'm not paying this fee. You all may feel free to comment. I'm far to American to participate in this part of German life...
9 comments:
Yeah, yeah, I never "participated" either. I was way too poor, too. And I don't think they can tax the internet; listen to the radio through the internet!
Hey Reggie! If you hadn't told us it was real, I would have likened this letter to a German form of phishing. :) Glad you're having a great time. ~Nicole Notario-Risk
Yah this fee for using the media is very real. If you own a car you have no option but to pay for it (because of your assumed car radio). This is actually a throw back from the past, because they didn't always commercial television to pay the bills here. None-the-less...I ain't paying this. Heather I'm with you on the internet I download podcasts. Also, here is something that I've heard recently...for some of the unemployed, the government will pay for DSL so that they can "look for jobs", but this is not the fastest DSL it is a lower class of DSL (wierd).
Reggie you should embrace every element of German culture. Not just the parts that you think make sense. By not paying these fees you are cheating yourself out of the full and complete German experience. So please Reggie for your sake, pay the fee... Bitch
Ryan
Wow, Please write them and let the know you don't have a TV or radio. Are they expecting you to pay these fees for use of the internet? Find out your options, talk with your host family and see if they can recommend options.
Love
Aunt Tricia
Evidently...The secret is to never actually write these people back. If you write them back and say you don't have anything then they'll send an auditor. What i hear about the auditor is that you can just pretend that you don't understand them (because you're a foreigner) and don't let them into your house. This isn't the police they aren't obliged to just enter. Besides if you don't do anything i hear its easier to just slip in the cracks.
Thanks for the concern
this is no different than in the US. some states tax TVs, toilets, even your sofa. they are just difficult to enforce, consider the use tax for the state of michigan --hard to enforce and trace if audited but a lot of people pay it. i am sure this is the case in germany. but i am glad they respect your humanity and right to own a television and music machine. the real question is, what impact does this tax have on the tv/music maker industry? if the tax is inefficient (i.e. alters consumer behavior) then i imagine a germany with tube tvs, 40 pound vcrs, and record players.
ha ha very exciting.......love those germans
Yea...had i not been a member of WYCE I would not have known that they receive part of their funding through a tax on the cable companies for using public land. The interesting thing I find about germany is that their tax/fee system can be very direct. This is unlike the complex hidden taxes that we get at home. It has found its way into our culture that we believe that we are free riding on the system (when in fact we are not at times). I guess a good example would be the recycling in Grand Rapids and the assumption that it is "free". If things at home had a direct cost for a direct service, i do think it would have an effect on behavior. Thanks for the comment Donnijo
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