Friday, December 18, 2009

Online in Switzerland - oxymoron?

Yesterday I got a letter from the tax authorities in my native country. We have long ago made up, and I don't pay taxes there anymore but apparently they still like to keep track of me (still have a bank account there). This letter summed up my earnings for the last 3 years which amounted to the equivalent of about 15 Swiss francs. But they sent it to my old address, despite my having told them about the change (at least I think I did). So sent an email saying "you still have my old address, please change". Today I got the answer (translated): "Hello, changing to your new address immediately, best regards". Had this been in Switzerland you would've had to go to the 'kreisbüro', provide your passport and permit, sign your name, get a really big old-fashioned post-stamp on a piece of paper and pay at least 20 francs for the privilege. Not all things are better in Switzerland.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

efficient bureaucracy is indeed a joy after living in Switzerland

Witchbitch said...

I had forgotten what efficiency was like!