u/Noone-is-anonymous

Me and my wife have the first week in August off and this is the only chance of having a "change of scenery" in the next few months. We both hate too much sun/going out in summer time sun and we hate too much crowds. In the first week of August, it seems like the case with most of the destinations in Europe. We don't drink alcohol and my wife doesn't eat meat - that knocks out a lot of ideas for a relaxing get aways as well.

We have travel a lot of major destinations in Europe and some of them were during summer. It is pretty much clear that we absolutely do not enjoy sitting/hiking/walking around when the sun is too sharp and honestly, making the efforts to go someplace only to come out during late evening seems like a waste.

Any advice for a place around Berlin that is:

- Not too far. Maximum 4-5 hours train journey. We are not planning to drive.

- Budget friendly. I will be booking things now which is too late and it is peak holiday season.

- Not too crowded. It is fine if there are not too many things to do. We just wish to relax.

Some friends suggested trying to find a deal for 4 or 5 star hotel within Poland that has indoor pools and stuff and maybe just chill. They seem to be expensive or unavailable in August. I like this idea of trying to find a nice hotel with indoor pools that would be within budget. Any recommendations for such a resolt/hotel in Poland around Berlin ?

I have been living and working in Germany for a while and have a good income, top part of which is most likely getting into highest tax rate.

Last year, I got married in my home country and my wife left her job and joined me here in Germany. She liquidated some of her assets and all the money is moved to fixed deposits which will generate around 3000 Euros per annum of capital gains in my home country. My wife does not have a job and most likely she is not getting a job in a the next few years.

She moved in the middle of last year and I have now filed a combined tax return for us with 3+5 tax class combination. The final calculations are still to come back from Finanzamt, but I could see in Elster that I was getting a higher tax liability when I entered her income from the first half of the year that she earned in our home country before moving to Germany. I think it increased the progressive tax rate by 1-2 %.

Now I am wondering about a few things while filing tax returns going forward.

- Now there is no income to show but there are capital gains in her name in our home country. Other than capital gains tax, is that amount going to affect my progressive tax rate ?

- Would it be better to file a joint tax return or separately ? I am not sure if tax class 3 works if I just file my tax returns

- I guess filing for her tax returns is optional from this year on. Would it be possible if I just omit filing her tax returns ?

P.S: I am not going to ask this to any tax advisor. They don't answer anything before hiring them and they don't answer tricky questions after hiring them. I am done with them.

I have been living frugally and saving as much as possible for a long time now. I now have a solid ETF portfolio with about 90K in gains as of now. I plan to only add more money to my savings for the foreseeable future and start breaking it only in one of the 3 situations:

- I can afford early retirement in Germany (or by default when I retire)

- I decide to leave Germany (chances are increasing with every passing year)

- I decide to buy a home

I try to utilize the 1000/2000 Euro tax free limits every year but I always end up very easily having capital gains in a year which is well past the limit.

Last year, I got married in my home country and my wife left her job and joined me here in Germany. She liquidated some of her assets and all the money is moved to fixed deposits which will generate around 3000 Euros per annum of capital gains in my home country. If I understand correctly, we will have to pay capital gains on this income here in Germany as well. It will be taxed at 10% at source, so I think considering DTAA, we will pay around 16% on the gains.

My wife does not have a job and most likely she is not getting a job in a the next few years. It feels cruel that she will still have to pay capital gains tax regardless of the fact she has 0 income worldwide.

So, is there any strategy that we can use to try and save on capital gains now or in the future ?

I have been a tax resident in Germany for several years now and I had a tax class 1. I got married in 2024 and few months later, I was able to register my marriage and change my tax class to 3. My wife was working in our home country and the tax was being deducted there. Then in August, she moved to Germany on FRV. She did not earn anything in Germany till date.

I was filing my tax return in Elster and I decided to file jointly for both of us. Since my tax class changed, I was expecting a good amount of tax return.

Since my wife was earning in the year 2024 before moving to Germany, I declared that income in "Anlage AUS" after converting the amount into EUR. It was around 9000 Euros. I did not find any place to declare the taxes paid on this amount, I assume this is because they want to know the income only to know about the progressive tax rate.

At the end of the form, it was showing me X Euros of possible return. I was curious about the effects of the foreign income, so I went back and temporarily removed it. To my surprise, the possible return increase to X + 1200 Euros.

I hope the foreign income is only considered in the tax rate and there is no tax. I also did not find any tax class declaration/assignment for Sabitha, is this expected ?

Even if it is used to calculate the progressive tax rate, I am surprised that my taxation is updated based on this particular income declaration. Did I make a mistake in filing somewhere ?

Let us share some useful tips and advice in general that you can do to stay healthy and keep playing Padel for as long as possible. I will share some of mine:

Pre game:

- I apply "anti fungal and anti bacterial" powder on my feet before putting the socks on. Significantly reduces the chances of getting athletes foot

- I apply coconut oil on my joints, armpits and private areas

- Try to reach early to get some warmup done before the game

During the game:

- Wear knee braces. Even if you think you don't need them and you don't feel any difference, they are quite useful

- Take as much water and keep it near the court as possible. Sometimes we tend to skip drinking water (especially towards the end of the game) to not waste everyone's time

- Keep extra pairs of clean towels and avoid "overuse" of single towel

After the game:

- Drink lots of water(obviously)

- Protein shake/bar soon enough

- change into dry clothes (even if they are temp before the shower)

- Shower as soon as possible