posted by
janrinok
on Saturday November 09, @10:14AM
from the if-it-was-a-refund-claim-each-one! dept.
from the if-it-was-a-refund-claim-each-one! dept.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/533118/german-receives-1700-identical-letters-from-taxman
Most people dread a letter from the tax office. So spare a thought for the German man who got 1700 of them.
In an administrative meltdown worthy of a Franz Kafka novel, the mountain of tax correspondence arrived at his front door in 10 boxes, a local newspaper reported.
Germany's finance ministry apologised on Wednesday for the "technical error" that threw the man from Quickborn in northern Germany.
"The finance ministry has contacted the taxpayer and apologised," said a ministry spokeswoman.
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German Receives 1700 Identical Letters From Taxman
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(Score: 2) by DrkShadow on Saturday November 09, @10:33AM (4 children)
They appologized?!???
That's fucking incredible. When the gov. writes me an invalid citation, and I write them back with evidence and they cancel it, the follow up with a letter saying that they *truly believe* it was a valid citation but that they're canceling it out of the _kindness of their corporate hearts_, despite the citation being valid and fuck you. They basically call you a criminal for their fuck-up, and double down with a red face. It's so offensive I've wanted to schedule the hearing and take them to court to demand an appology.
That a government is *offering* one is astounding..
(Score: 5, Interesting) by janrinok on Saturday November 09, @10:46AM (2 children)
I know - strange isn't it?
When I first arrived in France and was filling in my first tax return (all French jargon of course which even the French have problems with) I made a few errors. So I contacted them to apologise. They offered to send an advisor to my home who could speak my language to explain things to me. They did so. She spent 90 minutes at my home, explained everything very clearly, filled an example tax return for me to copy the following year, and left me with her contact number should I have any more problems. When I asked how to pay for the cost of the visit? - "don't be silly, it is my job..."
Not every country handles such things the same way. I gather that this service is not provided everywhere in France but for me the assistance couldn't have been improved upon.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09, @10:56AM (1 child)
Even stranger things are afoot. I just flew most of the way across country (USA), first time I've been in an airport since well before covid.
The security people (TSA, Customs & Border Patrol, etc) at the airport(s) were almost friendly. I made a mistake before x-ray (left my eye glasses & hard case in a side pocket) and the quick wand-ing that found it was handled very smoothly in a minute or so (almost no delay).
(Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Sunday November 10, @08:08AM
They've improved their training then. When they first told TSA folks to be friendly to people a few years back the results were so uncanny-valley that I much preferred it when they were surly and uncooperative.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Nuke on Saturday November 09, @01:13PM
That's because the story got into the media.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Sunday November 10, @07:02AM
He'll probably still have to write 1699 replies, explaining that he has already paid the amount requested in the first of those letters.