"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes" - Benjamin Franklin

[pne]

Handed in my tax return today (deadline in Germany is 31 May); I went there in person so that if something was wrong or missing we would know right away.

I tried to deduct my expenses for YAPC::Europe last year, but they didn't want to accept it straight away. They wanted a program saying what was offered so that they could find a suitable similar German course and see whether it's cheaper or whether I was justified going to France for it; something saying I had participated; and something saying that it was necessary for my job (so that I could deduct it as a job-related expense).

I didn't think I was going to get the last bit, since the main reason why my company didn't pay for my going there was that they didn't perceive a benefit to the company from my attendance since we hardly use Perl at work. Andreas, my immediate superior, was on my side and wanted to help me; he also considered using the fact that I was a speaker there to sell it to his superiors as "training him how to speak" or "seeing whether it's something he might enjoy/do well", but was vetoed.

Ralf, a cow-orker, said that they might still be prepared to write me such a piece of paper saying it's job-related, but I'm not sure whether I want to go to the hassle of getting the other bits of paper as well. Also, I had already told the clerk to remove that item from my tax return.

So I might get back ~€120 or so less than otherwise (my deduction came to €350 with flight, accommodation, and meal expenses), but I think I'll live with that to save myself the hassle. *is meek*