MW5M
03-23-2006, 08:00 PM
WTH? :lmao
Dutch Family Taxed for Barking Doorbell
ap
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (March 23) - The Bruintjes family says a city inspector was barking up the wrong tree when he handed them an 80 euro ($97) bill for the Dutch dog tax.
The family insists it does not have a dog - only a barking doorbell.
It was the second year in a row the family had a run-in with authorities over their doorbell, which plays 15 different barking noises, Dutch media reported Thursday.
"Last year it was a huge effort to convince the inspector that we didn't have a dog, and now it's happened again," Gerrit Bruintjes was quoted as saying by RTL Nieuws.
In the Netherlands, dog owners are required to pay the "hondenbelasting," an infamous annual tax that is frequently evaded.
After pressing the doorbell and hearing the barks, the inspector in the city of Oldenzaal simply pushed a bill through the family's mail slot.
"My wife came home shortly afterward and was able to grab the inspector at the end of our street. After a lot of yipping and yapping, she was finally able to convince him," Bruintjes said.
He said he had chosen the doorbell in honor of the family's German shepherd, which died several years ago.
Dutch Family Taxed for Barking Doorbell
ap
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (March 23) - The Bruintjes family says a city inspector was barking up the wrong tree when he handed them an 80 euro ($97) bill for the Dutch dog tax.
The family insists it does not have a dog - only a barking doorbell.
It was the second year in a row the family had a run-in with authorities over their doorbell, which plays 15 different barking noises, Dutch media reported Thursday.
"Last year it was a huge effort to convince the inspector that we didn't have a dog, and now it's happened again," Gerrit Bruintjes was quoted as saying by RTL Nieuws.
In the Netherlands, dog owners are required to pay the "hondenbelasting," an infamous annual tax that is frequently evaded.
After pressing the doorbell and hearing the barks, the inspector in the city of Oldenzaal simply pushed a bill through the family's mail slot.
"My wife came home shortly afterward and was able to grab the inspector at the end of our street. After a lot of yipping and yapping, she was finally able to convince him," Bruintjes said.
He said he had chosen the doorbell in honor of the family's German shepherd, which died several years ago.