Taxes

Nobody wants to pay them, but they are a part of everyday life. Jesus told Peter that it was normal to pay and the Bible makes clear that we should pay our taxes. But what do you do when things get a bit complicated? We have lived for the last 30 plus years in Belgium, working in the Netherlands and receiving a good bit of our support from the United States. So which taxes do we pay? All of them. 

We have always paid income tax and social security I the US. We also pay social security in Belgium. But it has been a real blessing all these years to have brothers and sisters who have helped us with our taxes in the US. E.B. Dotson did our taxes (and others) as a service for missions (now the office of Larry McElroy). And what a service this is. It is amazing to have these worries taken from your shoulders, not having to worry about figuring out how things work - because it is confusing. 

You see, we live in Belgium, but receive a part of our funds from the US. Anyone who has lived outside of the US knows about the various forms that have to be filled in (FATCA, FBAR and such). Knowing that your taxes are in good hands, of brothers and sisters who are putting their talents to this service, is extremely comforting. So we are very thankful. 

This is especially important now. This past year the Belgian tax office decided that things have not been as they think it should be. They are only allowed to go back 5 years, so they went back to 2022 and looked at our taxes in Belgium. Their conclusion is that we should have been paying income tax in Belgium, not in the US. This influences how much social security we pay in Belgium as well. 

So now we are looking at back taxes in Belgium, back payments for social security, and continuing to try to figure out our social security status in the US. This can be worrisome or frustrating, but in the end we know that things will work out. Our God knows what we can handle and knows what is going on. That doesn’t mean that it will not happen. It means that He will give us strength to deal with it. 

Thankfully we do not have to worry about anything more than VAT (Value Added Tax) in the Netherlands. And we all have to deal with that in some sense. And as oil prices (gasoline, diesel - which is what we use in our car, gas for our heating) rise exorbitantly, we know that although this may be difficult, we will be able to deal with it somehow. God trusts us to be able to handle what he allows in our lives - with His strength. 

Whensday: Revolt of Eburones

Not far from where we live is the oldest city in Belgium, Tongeren. On the market stands a statue of Ambiorix. Perhaps you have heard of Asterix and Obelisk - the cartoon heroes of France. These two comic heroes are Gauls and fight against the Romans. Ambiorix, of the statue in Tongeren, is the real thing. 

The Eburones were a Gallic tribe in what is now Belgium and parts of the Netherlands. They figure largely in Julius Caesar’s “Gallic Wars” around 54BC. They were also called “Belgae” or “Germani”. Ambiorix and the Eburones were the tribe which decided to finally kick back against the Romans. Ambiorix was able to kill a large contingent (about 6000) of Roman soldiers before trying to get other Gauls involved. In the end Caesar used competing tribes to try to wipe out the Eburones. His history says that he succeeded. 

The city of Tongeren, called Atuatuca Tongrorum by the Romans, was the capital of the Roman province in what became Belgian Limburg. Its importance for the region lay in its being a Roman capital for the province and being settled on a major highway (literally, the roads the Romans built which were higher than a simple road). The city came under Saint Servatius (who was buried in Maastricht) in the 4th century. In the 17th century the city was burnt to the ground by Luis XIV’s troops and was not really rebuilt until 1830. 

When the major roads also moved away from Tongeren, the city languished and died, in comparison to the cities of Maastricht and Liege. But it is still a major tourist destination and boasts a lively antiques market every Sunday. The most important part of the city for us is that several of the members of the congregation live there. Our young Ukrainian couple live right downtown. Another Belgian family live in a small village considered part of greater Tongeren. 

From the time of Julius Caesar (think of the opening scene of the movie “Gladiator”) to the present, Tongeren remains an intriguing city. 

(The picture is of the wedding at the beginning of this year of a young Ukrainian couple which took place in a restored old building in Tongeren).