Denmark now taxes a helping hand
October 23, 2006The stasi (tax man) has now decided to tax you if friends are helping you out on your building site (via Freeplay).
If a friend of yours is caught helping you out on a building project, the tax inspectors have will estimate the value of his work for taxation as a gift.
I’m glad there aren’t any Amish barn raising’s going on here or they’d be forced to sell their horses and get on the dole.
Comments:
OMG.
Posted by: Will Kamishlian at October 23, 2006 10:41 AM
I remember how this law effectively removed all interest in volunteer work. When you ARE unemployed and on the dole, you are not allowed to do any volunteer work, particularly not in anything resembling the work you should be getting paid for! I'm afraid the unions get laws like this on the books.
Now in the US I have made newsletter, brochures, websites, etc. for friends and organizations I am a member of and no one complains about that. Almost the entire US social welfare system is run by volunteers!
For example, there is a vary large group of people in the US volunteering at hospitals - young high school students spread cheer and help where they can, and get a feel for a medical career at the same time. Retirees man some of the desks, run coffee shops, and help patients, etc. which gives them something to do in retirement, and saves the hospitals lots of money.
I was very appreciative of many aspects of the Danish welfare system. I really loved getting such great unemployment and "activation" courses, which taught me about entrepreneurship, graphic design and environmental management, and the excellent health benefits my family received there, compared with the scrounging around for Medicare benefits my parents are experiencing in the US.
However, I was pretty much unemployed after the age of 50 in Denmark. My attempts at being an entrepreneur fell flat because I didn't have the freedom to start a company that I would have here, and employers were not the least bit interested in "career changers". They wanted to hire people right out of college "so they could form them," I was actually told to my face! There is no incentive or encouragement to hire more mature people, since everyone knows they are being supported by the state so there's no reason to help them out with a job! I remember when a bank fired everyone over 40, until their more mature customers complained vociferously!
Posted by: Bonbayel at October 29, 2006 11:31 AM
You are right of course. The voluntary sector is pretty much non existent in Denmark. You do get people asking for money on the streets for various causes, but very few people doing real work helping out.
Posted by: Pelle at October 29, 2006 08:11 PM
