“Carnival Pack 1” is a collection of 4 transcripts, each in their own PDF file. The pack is a ZIP file containing the 4 PDFs and is available from the AllThingsGerman Download Store.
The transcripts in this pack are:
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In the financial world Germany has a reputation of having a complex tax system, and even amongst the normal tax payers there is a belief – not unfounded – that Germans pay a lot of tax.
After all, there is a tax on being a member of a Church, a tax to support German re-unification, even a tax on coffee!
But in the end, it is the income tax, or Einkommensteuer, that is most feared. After all, it is not easy to calculate. Here we do not have a simple tax band system with a tax-free base income – we have pages worth of tables instead.
What really does not help, is the “cat and mouse” game of trying not have to pay so much tax. Whereas other country collect less tax in the first place, Germany collects more and then gives you ways to deduct particular expenses occurred from it – at least in part. There are whole books full of details of what can be deducted to help the taxpayer claim as much back as possible.
These are things like claiming back the cost of getting to work, the cost of learning a foreign language to further your career, or even – if you have the right type of job – how you can recover the cost of playing tennis!
But of course, these books only contain the legal tips on how to save paying so much tax. These obviously do not go far enough for some high-earners, which is why they opt to take their money abroad.
Which leads me to the current debate about whether Germany should purchase data about the Swiss bank accounts of alleged tax-evaders, evoking memories of a similar case two years ago with data from Lichtenstein.
How much Germany stands to gain from obtaining the data depends on which source you read, most agree that it will be at least €100 million. But the real debate is about how this data made it out of the banks concerned and which law should therefore prevail.
Obviously if someone has transferred their money out of the country and not declared this on their income tax form, then the state has a valid interest in claiming the unpaid tax.
But on the other hand, Germany has also seen its fair share of Data Protection issues involving major companies, and would itself be none too pleased if data from German banks ended up with a foreign power.
So people are starting to ask whether by buying the data, Germany is supporting data theft in Switzerland, whilst some politicians claim that it would an “obstruction of justice” not to pursue the information that has been offered.
Either way, there are reports of people correcting their tax returns and suddenly paying up to avoid prosecution, so just by announcing the fact that the data is out there may have helped increase Germany’s tax revenue this year!
We first read about the aquarium in the magazine “50 things to do”, which we picked up by chance at the airport museum.
The aquarium is located in Costa Teguise and has an unspectacular entrance in a side road called Avenida de las Acacias (on some maps it is called “Calle de las Acacias”).
Compared to many other attractions on the island, the entrance fee is quite expensive – with 12EUR for adults and 8EUR for children. Over 65s pay 10EUR, and there are discounts for residents. For 30EUR extra there is the option of a guided tour.
The entrance hall is also the shop, and after a brief introduction you descend into the dark depths down a flight of steps.
From here you follow the path along the 33 different aquaria – each containing different species of fish. The fish in each tank are described in English and Spanish on backlit panels. Larger panels telling the background story to the island’s development are in Spanish only.
There are not only fish to be seen, but also seahorses, sharks and even stingrays. Apparently there are 1 million litres of water in total, with the largest tank containing 400,000 litres. In several places there are seats where you can sit and watch the beauty of the scene in front of you, accompanied by background music.
Photography is encouraged, and with our daughter in full flow we ended up with over 400 photographs, however the use of flash photography is strictly prohibited.
We took about 90 minutes to make our way from start to finish, and spent another 30 minutes sitting in front of the last tank watching the stingray and the sharks. During this time, the background music did get a bit repetitive! At the end you re-ascend into the shop via another flight of stairs.
What we liked: it was not very crowded, so we were able to get a good view of the fish and take our time. Toilets are located at the end of the passage near the big aquarium. For fans of “Finding Nemo” there are many of the fishes featured in the tanks for children to recognise. A small amount of free parking is available in front of the entrance, otherwise in the surrounding roads.
What could be better: although the staff speak German, none of the signs are in that language. Some of the windows to look into the tanks are too high up for smaller children.
Was it worth it? Going as a family can be expensive, and it is fairly obvious that most of the investment has been made in the fish and their tanks and less in the rest of the building. Given that a family of 4 is going to be paying about 40EUR just to get in, it would be nice if there was the option of joining a guided tour without paying extra for it.
For more information visit www.aquariumlanzarote.com
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