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It's a breeze in France too. Login to the government website, verify that everything preloaded is correct, add the few things they don't know about and you're d

It's a breeze in France too. Login to the government website, verify that everything preloaded is correct, add the few things they don't know about and you're done. It's a mess in the US because Turbotax and others make money on that complexity and do lobbying to keep it that way.

bigtimeidiot 10y ago
>It's a mess in the US because Turbotax Which is odd, because I've used Turbotax (and others) in Canada and it's also been a breeze.
- jeltz 10y ago
  I think you are missing the point. Companies like TurboTax clearly benefit from a complicated tax system and bad tax forms. Here on Sweden almost nobody uses third-party tax software for filing individual taxes. For most tax payers it is trivial to do your taxes on the government website. Almost only companies use third-party software here, so the market for tax software is much smaller.
yodsanklai 10y ago
I did mine yesterday. It took me a few clicks and couple of minutes. Very pleasant indeed. I remember when I lived in the US a few years ago. Everybody told me that I had to go through a professional to fill my tax return as it was just too hard and error-prone. It sounded insane considering my situation was extremely simple. I was also surprised because I assumed the American tax system to be simpler than the French one. In the end, it wasn't that hard, but I did have to spend some time to find and read the proper documentations. I think in France people are more reluctant to spend money on things they can do themselves, where Americans are more willing to rely on service providers.
cjhanks 10y ago
I am not sure I get it... it took me less than 2 hours to enter my W2's, import my brokerage liabilities, and insert my itemized deductions. All for about $60. You know what would be worse than that? A system which has absolutely no competition or financial incentive to improve....
- sveiss 10y ago
  You're making a false comparison. The majority of UK residents don't need to file a tax return. The correct tax/national insurance/student loan deductions are withheld from their paycheques, and in case of problems, a phone call will normally sort them out. Some people need to file returns. (Those that don't need to can also choose to.) Those people that do can file on paper, though the Government website, or using third party software. There's around 30 listed software providers for personal tax. The fact most people have never seen a tax return in their lives hasn't prevented competition for tools in the more complex cases.
- mixmastamyk 10y ago
  Bullshit. There is no reason to enter it---they already know almost everything. Just add to it if necessary. There is no reason to pay a third party. There is no reason to get a third party involved in your private financial matters, just another place to get hacked. And just because it was tolerable for you, doesn't mean that's average. My taxes took four days and about eight pages, and I didn't make much last year. Again they already know all this shit. I filed taxes in NZ a few years back and it was a hundred times easier, "next next finish," on a modern website. Took 15 minutes.
greggman 10y ago
France supposedly has some of the the highest tax rates in the world which seems to kind of fit some of the objections. that believe that making it easier means it will raise to France levels

bigtimeidiot 10y ago

>It's a mess in the US because Turbotax Which is odd, because I've used Turbotax (and others) in Canada and it's also been a breeze.

jeltz 10y ago
I think you are missing the point. Companies like TurboTax clearly benefit from a complicated tax system and bad tax forms. Here on Sweden almost nobody uses third-party tax software for filing individual taxes. For most tax payers it is trivial to do your taxes on the government website. Almost only companies use third-party software here, so the market for tax software is much smaller.

yodsanklai 10y ago

I did mine yesterday. It took me a few clicks and couple of minutes. Very pleasant indeed. I remember when I lived in the US a few years ago. Everybody told me that I had to go through a professional to fill my tax return as it was just too hard and error-prone. It sounded insane considering my situation was extremely simple. I was also surprised because I assumed the American tax system to be simpler than the French one. In the end, it wasn't that hard, but I did have to spend some time to find and read the proper documentations. I think in France people are more reluctant to spend money on things they can do themselves, where Americans are more willing to rely on service providers.

cjhanks 10y ago

I am not sure I get it... it took me less than 2 hours to enter my W2's, import my brokerage liabilities, and insert my itemized deductions. All for about $60. You know what would be worse than that? A system which has absolutely no competition or financial incentive to improve....

sveiss 10y ago
You're making a false comparison. The majority of UK residents don't need to file a tax return. The correct tax/national insurance/student loan deductions are withheld from their paycheques, and in case of problems, a phone call will normally sort them out. Some people need to file returns. (Those that don't need to can also choose to.) Those people that do can file on paper, though the Government website, or using third party software. There's around 30 listed software providers for personal tax. The fact most people have never seen a tax return in their lives hasn't prevented competition for tools in the more complex cases.
mixmastamyk 10y ago
Bullshit. There is no reason to enter it---they already know almost everything. Just add to it if necessary. There is no reason to pay a third party. There is no reason to get a third party involved in your private financial matters, just another place to get hacked. And just because it was tolerable for you, doesn't mean that's average. My taxes took four days and about eight pages, and I didn't make much last year. Again they already know all this shit. I filed taxes in NZ a few years back and it was a hundred times easier, "next next finish," on a modern website. Took 15 minutes.

greggman 10y ago

France supposedly has some of the the highest tax rates in the world which seems to kind of fit some of the objections. that believe that making it easier means it will raise to France levels