(Reposted By Popular Demand)
Prologue
This post draws heavily from the reporting of John VanDiver who has written a number of articles in Stripes. His most recent article is here:
Opposition is building against attempts by Germany tax authorities to strong arm US troops into paying massive tax penalties. Germany is the only country where US forces face this threat. https://t.co/y4e5A411Y8
— John Vandiver (@john_vandiver) January 25, 2021
“You don’t want to be chased and harassed by a government office. It is scary,” said Melissa Howell, the spouse of a U.S. soldier who is being targeted by a tax office in Germany’s Landstuhl area. “I don’t know how they expect people to come up with that money.”
Howell, a German who lives with her American husband and children, said she ran into trouble in June when she went to file her taxes at the local finance office.
She said she was interrogated about her husband and told to fill out a questionnaire that probed information about his employment.
She then received a letter ordering her to hand over her husband’s W-2 and other tax forms.
“I did it because I didn’t know. I found out that
was a mistake,” she said.
After that, she got a phone call from the tax office, saying that their case was getting handed over to a case manager who handles “American-German couples.”
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