I am fuming…

So hang on, is this thread a load of nonsense by someone pretending to live in Switzerland and be a high earner, then? 😳

Blah blah 😌

🤚👍

Almost as much as how baffling it is a middle aged woman can't deal with council tax 🤣

Ignore the neigh sayers about Switzerland, I have been in Vaud for 17 years and love it! (Although, in those days, I did just leave the uk. I didn't tell anyone anything? I just sold up, and left...)

You’re trying to claim a benefit but you need to prove entitlement to it.

you're getting yourself in knots because you’re angry- fuming- that you can’t get what you want. Pay your bills like everyone else.

I certainly feel like I’ve been paying my dues for a very long time for very little on return. Many years of 45% tax without putting a burden on any public services, so I would refrain from talking about something you have no clue about.

I always get amazed how much British residents get screwed in comparison to many European countries. We pay the same amount of tax for abysmal services. NHS is a joke, you have 0 support if you lose your job, you have the most expensive childcare in the world, pathetic pension etc. and then when I try to actually get things straight I have a rando telling me about paying my dues. Quite amusing.

The key is that what you want from the Council is a 'benefit' not an automatic right.

You are eligible for these benefits based on where you live and where you don't live.

If my Council didn't ask residents to prove residency, there you be school admissions chaos, everyone would be claiming 25% off their Council tax...do you understand?

In my experience, when people are telling porky pies, they get very angry, very quickly. Fuming if they are on MN.

Just pay your dues. I pay 2 x full council tax because I have two properties in U.K. Obviously I’m not at two places at once but that’s the rule. And no single person discounts because they only apply at your main residence. I don’t complain. That’s the way council tax is set up. I’m not looking for loopholes and getting myself agitated.

youre trying to look like a jet setter whilst simply being a tax evader

I gave up on Candymay as I know you can’t pass on experiences. Maybe she’s never been outside of the village she’s from and that’s why she finds it so unbelievable that people actually move countries and travel to see each other on a regular basis. I highly suggest getting out and opening your mind to the wonders of the world :-)

Its quite amusing how the congestion charge issue still baffles some people…

Well I get your point. It doesn’t seem like a big deal but they specifically asked for a new tenancy agreement. What if I live with my relatives or friends, what if I own a place. You may think it’s unreasonable but I have no desire to share any of these personal details with these people who I have no respect for based on years of horrible experience every step of the way.

I said I’d send relevant forms and they must accept it I am being told.

you can’t make this up 😂

No I decided to leave my job when I had a baby.

So will be getting back to work in a few weeks time in Switzerland.

I have never been resident in Switzerland but until 2012 I used to own a holiday flat in a ski resort that I rented out when I was not using. Found Swiss local authorities a nightmare - particularly the annual tax return for the rental income where I had to detail my worldwide capital assets as well as income. They asked about my religion and I foolishly put Church of England which they decided meant I had consented to pay extra tax to go to the local Swiss Calvinist protestant church. By the next tax return I had had a crisis of faith and become an atheist!

I’m Serbian, and politically there have been issues between Serbia and Switzerland, but I can’t say I’ve ever been treated badly in Switzerland as a result.

There was a lot of immigration from Albania and Kosovo to Switzerland, which wasn’t always welcomed. There’s a stereotype that Albanians (and Roma, actually) are criminals. I’ve noticed similar sentiments towards Albanians in Italy, and even in the UK.

It does sound like the congestion charges will impact her DH, and her if she’s also traveling backwards and forwards at all. She hasn’t been the clearest, but I don’t think what she’s saying is unbelievable.

I know few people who did move like this when one went ahead ranging from 2 months to a year. Not sure why some people are surprised. It happens more often than people think.

Your DH has to communicate with them, not you. That might help. I get why you are frustrated when they say they don't believe you. That's ridiculous of them. Just provide them with proof of your address, don't explain situation. Some people will simply not get that one went ahead.
You might have to fully deregister from everything. One friend just cancelled everything in UK, took himself of electoral roll etc. Some UK banks allow you bank account when you are abroad as well so change from uk address.

Same here, I lived and worked in Basel when I was younger and people were quite friendly, however there was definitely an "us and them" attitude that now seems very familiar in the UK. I think the Swiss don't mind us Brits that much but a colleague of mine who was of Albanian origin was not treated as well as me by Swiss colleagues.

As for OP, she needs to get her story straight really. I mean why whinge about congestion zone discount bureaucracy when you don't live in the UK?

OP are you still employed in the UK?

This is where you fully lost me. You know they don’t care, you know they just need proof of address but you won’t send it on some sort of principle I don’t really understand. You’ve made it difficult by not providing a basic piece of evidence.

Enjoy Switzerland. 😳

I don’t have to provide proof of where I live as there’s no reason why they should have these personal details about me.

No, you don't have to, but if you won\t provide supporting evidence don't expect to be able to reduce your council tax. It's daft to expect them just to take your word for it that you've moved without requiring supporting evidence.

I haven’t found it that cold when I’ve been tbh. At least not in the major cities and as long as you’re not late, anyway.

Granted it is a different story in the countryside, where you may indeed be Swiss but you’re classed as foreign if you’ve wandered in from the neighboring village. Have encountered the same mindset in Lincolnshire though.

😂😂😂😂😂

I’m afraid it is true. My friend who’s a journalist living in Berlin reported on it for a German newspaper at the time. Was quite a scandal.

Thats the thing about Switzerland, it is very cold to outsiders.

Also the fact that women didn’t get the vote until 1971. BUT even then women gained full voting rights in the final Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden as late as 1990.

1990 FFS! Mental 😂

Yeah all things considered, this is the funniest thread I have ever read on Mumsnet.