Thousands of German employees breathed a sigh of relief a few days ago - the cancelling of the so-called Pendlerpauschale was ruled to be invalid by Germany’s constitutional court.

Germans pay a lot of tax compared to may other European countries, but they also have a lot more ways to claim tax back than in those other countries as well.  The rules are very complex, but generally speaking it is possible to offset such things as courses and books that you have paid for privately, as long as they are for your career.

Until the end of 2006, the cost of getting to work could also be claimed back, either by producing tickets for public transport or on the basis of the kilometers driven.  But then, all that changed, and the first 20km could no longer be claimed back.

For the past two years, people have been arguing that this is unfair and several local courts had already dealt with the issue.  But now, the consitutional court has taken the final, binding decision.

It didn’t take long for the politicians to respond.  On the lunch-time news that very same day there was an interview in which they were saying that they did not like the verdict, but that they would - as soon as possible - repay all of those affected since Januar 2007.

I checked my tax statement for that year, and sure enough it contained the important words (translated) “The tax statement is not yet conclusive.  Should a court decide that dropping the Entfernungspauschale be unlawful, it will be revised.  You do not need to contact us for this”

Let’s see how long they take…

I am often intrigued and sometimes even puzzled by parking regulations in Germany.

There are some quite simple rules, usually involving a think called a Parkscheibe or quite simply a ticket machine.

But every now and then I come across a sign that causes confusion so that I myself become unsure about where to park.

What is really annoying though, is when I sign is quite definite about whether you can park or not, and people just ignore it.

Precisely that is happening in front of our block of flats at the moment on a regular basis. There is a turning circle which you are meant to leave free for other people to turn round in, it being the end of the road (unless you have some form of special permission, eg. the district nurse).

But some drivers are so blatantly ignoring the signs - that they actually park directly under them! Try talking your way out of this:

The last time I looked, the fine for parking here was 25 Euros. I’m sure if the town were to check here a bit more often, they could make several hundred Euros every day!

P.S. it happens in the UK as well

I was listening to a podcast of the Today Programme this week about a UK supermarket that is to fine drivers who use parking spaces for the disabled when they shouldn’t.

I was reminded about it when I went shopping this afternoon. The large supermarket that I went to had blocked off the mother and child spaces and two disabled bays to set up a barbecue stand to promote a type of beer.

These spaces are, of course, the nearest to the entrance and hence perfect for getting customers’ attention, but what about the poor people who rely on those spaces when they go shopping?

Worse still, one of our local supermarkets even had a sign in the window a while back saying that they had noticed people who were not disabled used the disabled spaces in front of the door, and would anyone who spots this please inform the information desk.

The sign has recently disappeared, which is rather convenient since they have used the two spaces themselves this weekend to sell asparagus and plants in front the shop!

I often wonder if some car parks overdo the number of disabled bays or Frauenparkplätze, I know some that have so many that you often have problems finding a normal space to park. This is due to automatic barriers that count cars in an out, but don’t take account of the distribution of the spaces within the car park itself.

But if you do provide such spaces, then I think it makes a mockery of them - and any notices displayed enforcing them - to use them for other purposes, irrespective of how few days the events are on for.