For the last few weeks I have been doing something that, at first sight, probably looks remarkably unproductive. I have not incorporated a company. I have not hired anybody. I have not rented an office. I have not written a triumphant announcement saying that I am now the founder and CEO of the next revolutionary technology start-up. Instead, I have been asking questions. Lots of questions. I have been talking to Moldovan institutions, technology organisations, people involved with investment and exports, people involved with the IT industry, and people who understand the various programmes available to companies here. I have been trying to understand taxation, incorporation, intellectual property, investment, grants, export assistance, the Moldova Innovation Technology Park, and how all these pieces actually fit together. And the more of this homework I do, the more convinced I become that creating a technology company in Moldova is not merely one of my slightly eccentric ...
On 26 February 2026, I submitted my 2025 German tax return electronically. I knew from the beginning that it was not the simplest possible return, and I fully expected that some of the deductions might attract questions. In particular, I had claimed expenses related to my home office and legal fees connected with an employment matter, both of which could reasonably require clarification or supporting evidence. I had no objection to that. A tax authority is entitled to verify claims, ask for documentation and challenge a deduction where the legal treatment is uncertain. What I did not expect was that the process would stretch for almost seven months, involve repeated explanations and submissions of information that had already been provided, and eventually reach the rather extraordinary point where I was asked again for my bank details even though those details had been included in the electronic return from the beginning and were associated with an account I had already used for German...