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And I thought California was bad regarding income state income taxes and military personnel that claimed out of state residence and were married to a California resident.
The German Government should put a stop to this, as it's penalising NATO forces.
US Visiting Forces in the UK are exempt from most taxes including council taxes (Local), Income Tax (National) and even VAT on goods and services.
It seems like it could be handled pretty easily if the right people were paying attention. I don't have much confidence that the current U.S. administration really cares about the welfare of U.S. military personnel stationed abroad. Given the sword rattling going on the Kremlin Germany needs the U.S. far more than we need them.
I think one needs to put this topic into perspective and know that it does not affect a large number of US service members. I was living in Germany up until September 2021, and have a total of 6 years of residence living there as a US citizen. Sure, 4 of those years were in the 1970s when I was in the US Army, which was a long time ago. Two of the past 4 years I have been in Germany.
The US military personnel that are most likely to get tangled up with the German Finanzamt (tax collection agency) are married to a German citizen - and typically many are property owners too (i.e. of their own homes, outside the military base). In that case, they are both registered with the local civilian authorities as the residents of that house, and that info gets passed onto Finanzamt. If the German citizen spouse is working in Germany, of course he / she would be required to pay taxes on that income in Germany. The name of the US citizen spouse would also be listed on the tax form. That is how the Finanzamt starts to become interested in the income of the entire household.
Let's say the German citizen spouse has maintained their German public health insurance coverage - yet another reason for the Finanzamt to want to collect taxes on that household. Let's say they have a few kids too, who happen to be German citizens and are covered under the German public health insurance - no wonder the Finanzamt might be interested in collecting some taxes from this couple. And let's say those kids also attend public school in Germany, which also sets off flags to the tax collectors that say this entire household are essentially permanent residents of Germany.
This is NOT a new issue - there are many cases where US military personnel have essentially become permanent residents in Germany through marriage, children and property ownership. If their families are using many of the German government-provided services (health care, education, subsidized transportation, etc) it is not a surprise the tax authorities are out to collect.
I think one needs to put this topic into perspective and know that it does not affect a large number of US service members. I was living in Germany up until September 2021, and have a total of 6 years of residence living there as a US citizen. Sure, 4 of those years were in the 1970s when I was in the US Army, which was a long time ago. Two of the past 4 years I have been in Germany.
The US military personnel that are most likely to get tangled up with the German Finanzamt (tax collection agency) are married to a German citizen - and typically many are property owners too (i.e. of their own homes, outside the military base). In that case, they are both registered with the local civilian authorities as the residents of that house, and that info gets passed onto Finanzamt. If the German citizen spouse is working in Germany, of course he / she would be required to pay taxes on that income in Germany. The name of the US citizen spouse would also be listed on the tax form. That is how the Finanzamt starts to become interested in the income of the entire household.
Let's say the German citizen spouse has maintained their German public health insurance coverage - yet another reason for the Finanzamt to want to collect taxes on that household. Let's say they have a few kids too, who happen to be German citizens and are covered under the German public health insurance - no wonder the Finanzamt might be interested in collecting some taxes from this couple. And let's say those kids also attend public school in Germany, which also sets off flags to the tax collectors that say this entire household are essentially permanent residents of Germany.
This is NOT a new issue - there are many cases where US military personnel have essentially become permanent residents in Germany through marriage, children and property ownership. If their families are using many of the German government-provided services (health care, education, subsidized transportation, etc) it is not a surprise the tax authorities are out to collect.
Did you bother to read the article? Germany is in violation of the Status of Forces Agreement that exempts U.S. military personnel from being taxed by the country that they're stationed in. If they're married to a German national then by law only that spouse should be subject to German taxes. If they own property in Germany I can understand that being subject to property taxes but their military income should remain exempt. Why is this only a problem in Germany and not in other NATO nations like the U.K., Italy or Spain? Or across the globe in Japan? The article states;
"For more than a year, the U.S. military in Europe and the American embassy in Berlin have made no tangible progress on resolving a dispute that has forced some to pay six-figure amounts in German income taxes and penalties, even after they've had their military income taxed by the United States. At issue is a disagreement over how to interpret the Status of Forces Agreement, which is designed to put military pay off limits to foreign tax collectors.
Military community members say they have been told by authorities that they were identified because they married a German, owned property or even extended their tours. To avoid being taxed, a person must prove a "willingness" to return to the U.S. But tax authorities have continued to pursue service members even after they've returned. Germany is the only country where U.S. forces face these financial risks, which also can involve finance offices imposing extra penalties for access to on-base "privileges" such as commissary shopping, cheaper gas, gym use and access to Defense Department schools for their children.Bass said she was surprised by the sheer volume of pleas from people asking her for help. But it also showed "the magnitude of what potentially is out there," she said. "I think what hasn't been presented to me is how many of our Americans have been impacted by this, and then how many of them are United States Air Force," she said. "That's pretty important information to know."
It's an insignificant problem unless your the one being targeted by the German government for taxes. The time has probably come for the U.S. to leave Germany and let them deal with the Russians. Considering how quickly the Imbecile in Chief got us out of Afghanistan we could be out of Germany in no time.
"In recent years, racist, anti-immigrant and antiliberal rhetoric at the march has blended with Christian slogans in a peculiar hybrid of militant aesthetics and patriotic sentiments." LINK
"In recent years, racist, anti-immigrant and antiliberal rhetoric at the march has blended with Christian slogans in a peculiar hybrid of militant aesthetics and patriotic sentiments." LINK
I think Germany has its fair share of that, too, to be fair
All other things equal, I'll go for the country that is going to cost the US the least amount of money to keep our troops there.
"In recent years, racist, anti-immigrant and antiliberal rhetoric at the march has blended with Christian slogans in a peculiar hybrid of militant aesthetics and patriotic sentiments." LINK
Germany has quite a bit of the same thing and still costs the US billions.
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