A tax return submitted too late became fatal for a Berliner. Mainly because the tax office was not very accommodating Photo: picture alliance / Bildagentur-online/McPhoto-Schul/Wolf Lux
By Julian Loevenich
Just don’t human is probably the motto at the Berlin tax office!
Simon S. from Kreuzberg submitted his tax return too late, and his accounts were then blocked. So far so unfortunate. He instructs his bank to transfer the outstanding amount – and from here on the whole bureaucratic stubbornness of the authority is revealed!
Because: Due to technical problems, the tax office cannot check the incoming payment, it is said. The official responsible does not want to call the bank directly. And the fact that S. can’t buy anything to eat is of no interest to anyone at the tax authorities.
Improvisation? None! Humanity? None! Call of duty? Definitely!
If you only see files and no longer the people behind them because of all the desk work, you should perhaps pause for a moment. The Advent season is currently ideal for this.