This incident was quite a shock!. We had been on holiday and using our German Maestro bank cards to draw money while in Corsica and Sardinia. It all worked very well so when we returned and I had to go to Frankfurt on business I was quite shocked to find the machine kept my card and refused to give me any money. On the way home on the plane I was getting concerned why it would take my card? Had it been cloned in Corsica? I was sure I had money in the bank. So that night I used my wife’s card and the local machine did the same thing!
The next day I promptly went to the bank and asked what was happening. This was always a challenge to my German but I strangely enjoyed it as it turned out that my crappy German was better (for once!) than their English. Anyway I knew immediately what Finanzampt meant (Tax Office). It transpired that my company had changed who was responsible for my tax affairs and forgotten to pay a €1000 bill. The bank were happy to give me money but just no let me use my card. 4 days later it was resolved and I had my card back.
The hardest thing to understand was how the Tax man could freeze my account. Im sure if they could try this tactic in the UK there would be a lot more bills paid. I was also puzzled that they could do this without even warning me or threatening.
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