Day 24 of 97

Day 24: Mum Works at the Tax Office

In Saarbrücken, Susanne (A), who works at a tax office, finds her daughter Lea (B), a freelance designer, in a state over a letter from the tax office.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning

  1. A

    Lea, du bist ja kreidebleich. Was steht denn in dem Brief, den du da so umklammerst?

    Lea, you're as white as a sheet. What's in that letter you're clutching like that?

  2. B

    Das Finanzamt will jedes Quartal 2.400 Euro Vorauszahlung! Wenn das so weitergeht, kann ich mein Büro zumachen.

    The tax office wants 2,400 euros in advance payments every quarter! If this goes on, I can shut my studio.

  3. A

    Gib mal her. Ah, ein Vorauszahlungsbescheid, wie ich sie jede Woche dutzendweise rausschicke, nur diesmal an meine eigene Tochter.

    Give it here. Ah, an advance payment notice, the kind I send out by the dozen every week, only this time to my own daughter.

  4. B

    Dutzendweise? Dann bist du also mitschuldig, dass halb Saarbrücken nachts wach liegt.

    By the dozen? So you're partly to blame for half of Saarbrücken lying awake at night.

  5. A

    Man beachte das Kleingedruckte: „unter dem Vorbehalt der Nachprüfung“. Stünde da „endgültig“, hättest du ein Problem, so aber nicht.

    Note the small print: 'subject to review'. If it said 'final', you'd have a problem, but it doesn't.

  6. B

    Und was heißt das auf Deutsch? Ich spreche fließend Kerning und Farbprofil, aber leider kein Amtsdeutsch.

    And what does that mean in plain German? I'm fluent in kerning and colour profiles, but sadly not in officialese.

  7. A

    Die Summe gilt, es sei denn, du weist nach, dass du dieses Jahr weniger verdienst. Dein größter Kunde ist doch abgesprungen, oder?

    The amount stands unless you can show you're earning less this year. Your biggest client pulled out, didn't they?

  8. B

    Ja, das Autohaus macht seine Werbung jetzt mit KI. Seitdem verdiene ich vielleicht halb so viel wie letztes Jahr.

    Yes, the car dealership does its advertising with AI now. Since then I've been earning maybe half what I did last year.

  9. A

    Dann beantragst du die Herabsetzung und legst deine aktuellen Zahlen bei. Es hülfe übrigens, wenn du die Buchhaltung nicht immer bis Silvester liegen ließest.

    Then you apply to have them lowered and enclose your current figures. It would help, by the way, if you didn't always leave your bookkeeping until New Year's Eve.

  10. B

    Ich werde also gar nicht ruiniert, ich muss bloß einen Antrag stellen? Dann beantrage ich hiermit formlos und fristgerecht eine Umarmung.

    So I'm not going to be ruined at all, I just have to put in an application? Then I hereby apply, informally and within the deadline, for a hug.

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