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Four Dutch Uberpop Taxi Drivers Arrested, Fined
An anonymous reader writes with news that authorities in the Netherlands have arrested four drivers sharing their car for money through the Uberpop app. The drivers were then released with a fine of EUR 4,200 (USD 5,300) each and further threatened with additional fines of EUR 10,000 (USD 12,600) for each time they might be caught doing it again. While similar bullying applied to short rentals of private rooms through sites like Airbnb hasn't had the same success so far the thoughts go to the fined drivers, hoping they won't ever be caught carrying their grandmother to the supermarket then have to explain how they dared. Uber says it will "fully support" the affected drivers."
What kind of person bills his grandmother for taking her to the supermarket? Jeezz...
Repeat after me: "it's against the law to drive people around for money without the proper credentials".
Life's not all about cheap dope and Eastern European hookers. Native Dutch have been leaving the Netherlands for years.
"Last year, 144,175 people emigrated, the paper says, quoting figures from the national statistics office CBS. In 2011, nearly 134,000 people left and in 2010, 121,000."
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/a...
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Life's not all about cheap dope and Eastern European hookers. Native Dutch have been leaving the Netherlands for years.
"Last year, 144,175 people emigrated, the paper says, quoting figures from the national statistics office CBS. In 2011, nearly 134,000 people left and in 2010, 121,000."
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/a...
To put this into perspective, the Netherlands has a population of 16.8 Million people. 150,000 aren't even 1% so that's pretty normal for emigration. Hardly the crisis you're making out.
I'd be willing to bet a good proportion of those would be Dutch retiring to some place warmer with cheaper prostitutes like Thailand (Thailand seems to be the go-to place for European retirees, Americans usually end up in the Philippines, we Australians have infested both places).
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
And yet net migration remains positive. In 2013 144,175 people left and 197,241 came. So a little over 50k people decided it was a better place to live overall. Helps if you get both numbers.
How? You can't even buy normal tickets anymore in The Netherlands.
You can get a ChipCart (I think that's the name) at the airport or at Central Station, then use that to ride the trains. You check in at readers on the platform before you board, check out when you get wherever using the same technique and it deducts money from your card.
You can use that same card for buses, trams, trains, etc. You can keep it and use it again when you come back.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Wow - about being completely wrong....
Those 52% are only for the wealthiest people with a lot of private estate, the top of the chain so to say...
Normal midclass people pay around 30%, but that money goes to welthcare, dykes, roads and infrastructure and so on..
Also - if you are doing work (it does not matter if you are using your own property for that), you have to pay taxes over the money you earn. If you try to avoid taxes you going to get burned. And also - when you do work, you have to get an licence to do so. Trying to avoid the cost for that by doing that work without licence, will earn you an fine...
I am the first to say that these licences are expensive, but try to do the same in -let's say- Londen, and you are in for a nasty surprise...
Your own property? yes, feel free to drive without a permit *ON* your own property. Public roads aren't such.
Wrong again.
In the Netherlands, you may pay 30% taxes, but on top of that come contributions to the welfare system, since you are insured against unemployment by law.
Typically, the average worker cost the employer about 3 times as much as the employee will receive netto on their bank account. This because employers pay a large amount of healthcare costs and other things.
So, for the average worker, they will see their salary `taxed` by about 65-70%. Just, they don't call it tax but insurance fees. As your income climbs, taxes raises but social security fees are capped. So yes, someone with a 200k income or more pays in procents less taxes and fees.
On topic. The Netherlands are killing all kind of active entrepreneurship. Seems only multinationals are welcome. Small businesses are not appreciated here, and even if you succeed, taxes and (local) governments will make your live miserable by regulations. Uber is just the latest example in this. Meanwhile, only few people take taxi's because no-one can or is willing to afford them, partly because their is no competitive market since its all being regulated. Paying 30 euro for a 2 km trip is not uncommon, and that's not even night tariff.
A glitch a day keeps the bugs away.