NORMAL LIFE: Giving & Taking - Taxes

The beginning of December can be a trying time for the Finnish taxpayers. Each spring, the authorities send a notice of what they believe to have been your liability for the previous year and, if you underpaid your tax, ask that you kindly pay the enclosed bill(s). You can object, though, if you feel you have an expense that qualifies as a deduction.

This what I did (see here). Not before time, the authorities returned my social security payments into the Finnish system rather than accept the UK social security payments as a deduction. Who can blame them given that UK social security costs are significantly higher? The UK need money for bombs that cost £750k a pop to find WMD that don't exist, you see!

Anyway, I'm €500 richer today than I was yesterday, which will go towards my winter holiday, thank you very much! Like I said, some aren't so lucky; I didn't escape unscathed this year either for I paid taxes amounting to €2,500 last month for tax I didn't pay when I left Finland last year. Here was me thinking I could get away with it! That's lfe, I suppose - give and take!