Comment It's Canada (Score 1) 1343
Has there been any increase in Quebecois students studying at Waterloo?
Has there been any increase in Quebecois students studying at Waterloo?
I've taken a look and I've realised that I got my replies mixed up a bit
The Swiss government has got a large document available explaining the rules.
My mum works full time in Spain. If you're just popping over for a few days at a time, you'll be okay, but if it's for any extended period you need the equivalent of an NI number to ensure that the correct tax is being paid. But even with typically slow Spanish bureaucracy this wasn't a major problem.
You can't just appear in country X one day and start the next, but you can move anywhere without needing permission.
The local government can only insist that you get the same paperwork as a local person. Obviously this doesn't apply equally to the new EU countries such as Romania.
I'm British and my parents moved to Spain three years ago so I know their experience. They had to get a residence permit and an social security number, but they couldn't be refused them.
Very true, but that doesn't apply to Germans.
Both are in Europe.
Wrong.
The bilateral agreement on the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the EU entered into force on 1 June 2002 and facilitates entry, residence and employment in Switzerland for EU-nationals as well as citizens from Norway, Iceland (EFTA members) and - conditionally - Liechtenstein.
EU-citizens have complete freedom of movement within Switzerland and Swiss citizens within EU-countries. Since the 12th of December 2008 the Swiss Confederation is a full member of Shengen.
You've skipped (1) and (2)
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Fundamentalist education may conflict with (2) and so the right of the parents to choose that option does not exist.
Yes, it was clearly the US they were targeting. If they wanted to home-school their German-speaking children, they could easily and freely moved to Switzerland (the eastern part of the country speaks German). No political asylum needed, much cheaper to travel. Also their kids could speak with their new-found friends, and read books, and watch TV, without a huge learning curve.
Moving to Switzerland is quite an undertaking, did you know? You can't even own land unless you're a citizen, which you won't be if you immigrate -- assuming you are allowed in at all.
Used to be the case. Not any more for Europeans.
Germany is subject to Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights:
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion
or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with
others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in
worship, teaching, practice and observance.
2. Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs shall be
subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are
necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety,
for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection
of the rights and freedoms of others.
If the parents felt that they were being persecuted, they have a perfectly valid right of appeal via German courts and then the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the above convention states:
No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise
of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and
to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure
such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious
and philosophical convictions.
So this would specifically be within Strasbourg's jurisdiction.
Thats easy:
Escape velocity of uranus: 21290 m/s
Escape velocity of earth: 11180 m/s
Interestingly it is actually only about twice as hard to get away from Uranus. Thats a lot better than I expected. Maybe its because of the low density and the fact that you start out in the fluffy atmosphere. Escape velocity from a singularity with the mass of Uranus or Earth is of course infinite.
About four times as hard. KE=1/2 m v^2
In a recession, spending doesn't necessarily go down. People will actually spend more on consumer durables as the utility they receive from them is greater than the (tiny) interest that they would get in the bank.
The 20% is deducted by default - if in fact you earn less than the threshold for any tax, you notify the bank and they pay you the full gross rate without deductions.
I believe that the deduction is common for all companies - you might need to declare them if you are a top rate earner like the interest on a bank account, but I'm not sure as I've never been one! We have Capital Gains Tax too, if you sell a property other than your main home for example.
The US system of making charity donations deductible to your own benefit seems a little odd to me to be honest. But if it results in higher charity donations as people try to play the system then it may be a beneficial system.
We have ISAs which I think are like IRAs - you pay in money after tax, then any earnings of the ISA fund are tax free. You can put up to a certain amount in each year - I think it will be almost £10k per year from this April but again I haven't checked as I don't have that much free cash!
Public listed companies can have a share save scheme, which is like a 401k but restricted to the company you work for. I put 2.5% of my gross salary into shares, and my employer matches it with 5% more, so I accumulate shares roughly equivalent to 7.5% of my gross salary per year. This is before tax and so reduces your liability. Dividends, and if you hold the shares for over 5 years, then any proceeds you make from selling them are tax free too.
You can invest in a private pension too.
Rather than getting deductions for having children, anyone with children no matter what they earn gets Child Benefit, and then you get Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits on a means assessed basis, which phase out as you earn more like you say there too.
I agree that the US has a more complex tax system - the UK isn't simple, but I think HMRC has done a better job of integrating the various parts so that for most people their monthly deductions come out right at the end of the year.
One more nugget that you may find of interest - in the UK, gambling winnings are tax free. So you win £5 million on the lottery, you receive £5 million. Reason being that if it was treated as earnings, then losses would have to be treated as business expenses, and the net benefit of taxing winnings to the treasury would be negative!
I'm sorry, but the US is the only country in the world I have ever heard of where it is a regular thing for people to claim refunds as if it is a normal thing to do.
Fine. I'll run my factory on dirty coal from the mine next door, rather than clean fuel from further afield.
An Ada exception is when a routine gets in trouble and says 'Beam me up, Scotty'.
