As in the previous article, we learned about 5 cultural taboos when living in Germany, successfully integrating into life and culture in Germany is an important requirement for you to feel comfortable when living and developing your career in the future here. In this article, My Career will continue to list for you 05 legal taboos when living in Germany so that you can prepare the best luggage for integration in this country!

1. Working illegally? Taboo when living in Germany

In Germany, every visa or residence permit here has a section stating whether the person is legally allowed to work or not, and if they are allowed to work, depending on each case, there will be regulations on the time or conditions. Illegal work often happens to straw people (people residing illegally in Germany), some people have a residence permit but are not allowed to work in Germany, or foreign students drop out of school to work (to explain more clearly, when you drop out of school, you immediately lose your legal reason to reside in Germany and will have to return home, so even though your residence permit is still valid, you have become an illegal resident)… There is also a large number of Vietnamese people who are allowed to reside in Germany, are allowed to work but still work illegally (usually for Vietnamese employers). Illegal work here means that they work without declaring it because they want to take “black” money and evade taxes from the German government.

Working illegally in any form is related to violations of residence, tax and social insurance laws. In case of illegal work and being discovered, both the employee and the employer will be subject to penalties according to the law such as fines, even imprisonment and deportation. In recent years, Germany has increased very strict control on this issue, this is a taboo when living in Germany that you must always remember to stay away from the ?temptations?.

2. Tax Evasion

In Germany, every individual or business when working or doing business must pay taxes according to state law. This tax rate is not small, so many people certainly want to avoid these taxes. The money you earn and pay taxes in full is clean money, recognized money. The money you earn without declaring taxes is black money. When you want to use money for shopping, trading, investing with large amounts of money… you will have to prove that the source of your income is legitimate, otherwise the investment transaction will not be feasible. Therefore, there is a reality that many Vietnamese people in Germany can earn a lot of money but it is black money, and because the source of money is not transparent, every time they need to spend a lot of money, they ask someone else to stand in their name . For example, asking someone else to stand in their name to buy a car, buy a house… 

Tax evasion is a taboo when living in Germany

Tax evasion can involve human resource fraud (such as under-reporting, false declarations) or more sophisticated and complex tax evasion techniques, but regardless of the reason, if discovered to be tax evaders, the individuals or organizations involved will be severely punished, with fines of up to millions of Euros, confiscation of assets and possibly more. So please be aware that this is a taboo when living in Germany and live and work according to the law in Germany!

3. Behavior with children

There is a funny story that people who have been to Europe often tell each other, in Europe men are ranked last, after dogs, in the order: Elderly, children, women, dogs, men. Because subjects such as the elderly, children, women are considered special and sensitive subjects that need protection. Animals are also very loved by Germans, protected from violence.

From a legal perspective, you need to pay close attention to the following when communicating with children:

• You are not allowed to approach, take pictures, or give gifts without their parents’ permission.
• Hugging or kissing children requires special attention because if not, you can be charged with pedophilia, which is a crime that is severely punished in developed countries.

Beating children is prohibited in any form, including teachers and parents. In Germany, corporal punishment is an unacceptable form of discipline, whether at home or at school. Therefore, any act of violence against children for any reason is a serious violation of German law and will be punished. 

Child abuse is taboo in Germany and many other countries and should be condemned.

4. Behavior towards women

You need to keep a suitable distance and limit when interacting with women you do not know, classmates, colleagues (but not yet close) to avoid being classified as “sexual harassment”. Acts of standing too close, physical contact, or joking with inappropriate language can all be classified as the above crime and it can ruin your life. You may not know that in Japan, there was a lawsuit against a young man who accidentally bumped into a woman standing next to him while on a crowded train. She sued him in court and won, and the young man’s life took a completely different turn.

To add to the men, in special trials related to this topic, because of the priority of protecting women, most women will be awarded the victory by the court. So please pay attention to this!

5. Behavior towards animals

Maybe one day you visit the zoo in Germany and want to feed the lovely animals some biscuits or fruit. Or you see your neighbor’s dog is so well behaved and want to give it a piece of delicious meat. NO. 

• First, feeding animals in the zoo must follow zoo regulations and animal protection laws. Some parks and zoos will note which animals you are allowed to feed and which animals you are not allowed to touch. Pay attention to the signs to avoid unnecessary trouble.
• Second, feeding someone else’s pet or allowing an animal to follow you home without permission can be considered an invasion of private property and may result in civil lawsuits.

Animal abuse and cruelty is definitely against the law in Germany, and is a taboo when living in Germany.

Animal cruelty is taboo in Germany

See more 5 cultural taboos when living in Germany!

Germany is one of the countries with the most complex legal systems and is also considered the most complete. If you live in Germany, you need to clearly identify that German law is not a joke. Therefore, always keep learning and it will be great if you have experienced people to guide you on these issues. I wish you success in studying, working and integrating in Germany.