For the first and last time I have been to Istanbul almost 30 years ago. Back then during my studies I earned my money as travel guide. The journey to Istanbul was very special. I had a group of about 40 young people and a railway wagon. More precisely a sleeping car. We always travelled during the night, arrived in the morning in a city, visited the city and in the evening our journey continued. Hotel accommodation we only had in Istanbul. Read More »
Author: Michaela Merz
London war gestern, heute ist Istanbul
Ich war das erste und einzige Mal vor fast 30 Jahren in Istanbul. Damals verdiente ich während des Studiums mein Geld als Reiseleiterin. Die Reise nach Istanbul war sehr speziell. Ich hatte eine Gruppe von etwa 40 jungen Leuten und einen Eisenbahnwagon. Genauer gesagt einen Schlafwagen. Wir fuhren immer in der Nacht, kamen am Morgen in einer Stadt an, besichtigten diese und am Abend fuhren wir wieder weiter. Hotelübernachtung gab es nur in Istanbul. Read More »
How to fight against VAT fraud quicker – Directive 2006/112/EC amendment (quick reaction mechanism against VAT fraud)
One of the topics high on the agenda in nearly every country, but especially in Europe, is to increase the governmental revenue. Improving the tax collection and tackling tax evasion are seen as ways how to achieve it. VAT fraud schemes like carousel and missing trader fraud evolve rapidly. These fraud phenomena have very often international dimensions. Read More »
There are no stupid questions
At school, physics meant trouble to me. I did not understand much during the lessons and on top of that it was not really exciting. I had to go to school by bus. With me went a girl from my parallel class. Her father was a physicist and worked at an institute. Once when he went on the same bus as we did, I asked him, whether I could ask a stupid physics question. He said that there are no stupid questions but only people, who cannot explain certain things or only very badly. Read More »
Es gibt keine dummen Fragen
In der Schule hatte ich meine liebe Mühe mit Physik. Ich verstand im Unterricht nicht viel und spannend war es auch nicht wirklich. Ich musste mit dem Bus zur Schule fahren. Mit mir fuhr ein Mädchen aus der Parallel-Klasse. Ihr Vater war Physiker und arbeitete bei einem Institut. Einmal als er den gleichen Bus wie wir zwei nahm, fragte ich ihn, ob ich ihm eine dumme Physik Frage stellen kann. Er sagte, dass es gar keine dummen Fragen gibt, sondern nur Leute, die bestimmte Sachen schlecht oder überhaupt nicht erklären können. Er erklärte mir dann während 5 Busstationen das, was meine damalige Lehrerin in mehreren Stunden nicht geschafft hatte. Read More »
Czech Republic – increase of VAT rate as from 1 of January 2013
The Chamber of Deputies has approved the economic measures intended to keep the state budget deficit under three percent of gross domestic product for the next three years. The measures include an increase in the standard VAT rate from 20% to 21% and the reduced rate from 14% to 15%.
My first presentation in London
At the beginning of my tax career, my English was poor. Very poor. I don’t want to claim that it is now excellent. But back then even a conversation in English was difficult, a presentation unimaginable.
My back then boss had been asked to give a presentation on the Swiss VAT system in London. He felt very flattered and he agreed even though his English was even worse than mine. The task to prepare the presentation ended up on my desk. Read More »
Mein erster Vortrag in London
Am Anfang meiner Steuerkarriere war mein Englisch dürftig. Sehr dürftig. Damit will ich auch nicht sagen, dass es jetzt hervorragend ist. Aber damals war für mich schon eine Unterhaltung auf Englisch schwierig, ein Vortrag unvorstellbar.
Mein damaliger Chef wurde angefragt, ob er in London einen Vortrag über das schweizerische Mehrwertsteuersystem halten könnte. Das schmeichelte ihm sicher sehr und er sagte zu, obwohl sein Englisch noch schlechter war als meines.Read More »
France – Increase of the VAT rate as per 1 of January 2014
The normal VAT rate will raise from 19.6% to 20%. The reduced VAT rate for instance for restaurants will increase from 7% to 10%. The super-reduced VAT rate for food and energy, however, will be reduced from 5.5% to 5%. Why? Because the government wants to reduce the tax burden on the companies in area of direct tax.
With this tax relief the French government intends to make the French companies more competitive on the international market
How to decline cost of bank guarantee in Italy – “Statuto dei diritti dei contribuenti” – Law no. 212/2000
In some cases such as claims for VAT refund, tax payers have to provide a bank guarantee to the Italian Tax Authority. This is not always easy from an administrative point of view (as it has to be bank in Italy) and never really cheap. “Statuto dei diritti dei contribuenti” – Law no. 212/2000 protects tax payers’ right in relation to the incurred bank guarantee cost. A specific decree, implementing the operating rules for the refund/repayment should have been issued a long time. Read More »
Michaela Merz 