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In the US, IRS takes the tax cut before you even see your funds in the bank account. This can be adjusted by filling out the dependents #. Basically, allowing y

In the US, IRS takes the tax cut before you even see your funds in the bank account. This can be adjusted by filling out the dependents #. Basically, allowing you to have some ability to adjust based on your needs. The IRS knows everything about your taxes. The filing process is about allowing the citizen to make deductions and providing flexibility by default. I actually prefer it this way. Note that I’m not saying that the actual filing process is good - that has ways to improve. But, I’d rather take action on my part than government assuming on my behalf. I want to file taxes. I feel like I might be the only person that likes filing taxes. It’s sort of a Zen mode for me. I love it.

wwn_se 6y ago
You can change stuff in the Swedish forms as well. Since everything i prefilled you just need to add in a number and recalculate. But most deductions would be done for you based on automatic reporting to.
piva00 6y ago
All of that is the same here in Sweden, the main difference is: we get a pre-filled tax form with everything Skatteverket (the Tax Authority) knows about your income. You are free to adjust as you need, you can make deductions as you would in the US, we just don't have to pay for software to help fill out our forms. Why you would prefer to have to re-enter data that your government already has and that they will match against your own data I don't really understand...
- Majromax 6y ago
  > Why you would prefer to have to re-enter data that your government already has and that they will match against your own data I don't really understand... Complacency, complexity, corruption, and conservatism. First, there's a strong status quo bias. The system works as-is, and the tax code is also set up in a way that's relatively simple for the median worker, so there's not a huge benefit to a change. Additionally, the IRS may not have enough data because data collection itself is decentralized. For example, married Americans typically file joint taxes, but the IRS has no way of telling who a taxpayer's spouse is until filing time. Second, a lot of the complexity of US tax law happens on the deduction side, rather than the income side. The US has last-dollar deductions from taxes, so deductions are worth proportionally more for higher-income filers, but the IRS won't necessarily know about charitable deductions or mortgage interest or home office expenses. Third is the aforementioned corruption -- tax-preparation firms consistently lobby against any sort of automatic return. Their arguments are relatively thin: they claim that automatic returns would have people not claiming tax credits they're eligible for and that developing automatic returns would be a waste of government money. In the meantime, they've collectively agreed to a "free file" program for moderate-income Americans -- only the program is barely advertised and full of "pushes" to paid tax offerings. Lastly is the ideology of fiscal conservatism in the United States. Anti-tax politicians (usually Republicans) argue that automatic filing would make it easier for future governments to raise taxes, since people would not have to calculate themselves how much they're paying in federal tax. This is often coupled with farfetched offers to greatly simplify the tax code by (e.g.) replacing it with a flat income tax that collects much less revenue.
  - Delk 6y ago
    > Lastly is the ideology of fiscal conservatism in the United States. Anti-tax politicians (usually Republicans) argue that automatic filing would make it easier for future governments to raise taxes, since people would not have to calculate themselves how much they're paying in federal tax. I kind of understand this, but kind of don't. I live in one of the countries where tax forms are pre-filled and you only make corrections for whatever wasn't already known to the tax authority. I don't really need to actively file everything (only deductions etc. that weren't pre-filled), or in the simplest cases anything, but I still definitely know the number under the line. I'd understand it better if automatic filing meant that the total is somehow less clear to you, but it doesn't.

wwn_se 6y ago

You can change stuff in the Swedish forms as well. Since everything i prefilled you just need to add in a number and recalculate. But most deductions would be done for you based on automatic reporting to.

piva00 6y ago

All of that is the same here in Sweden, the main difference is: we get a pre-filled tax form with everything Skatteverket (the Tax Authority) knows about your income. You are free to adjust as you need, you can make deductions as you would in the US, we just don't have to pay for software to help fill out our forms. Why you would prefer to have to re-enter data that your government already has and that they will match against your own data I don't really understand...

Majromax 6y ago
> Why you would prefer to have to re-enter data that your government already has and that they will match against your own data I don't really understand... Complacency, complexity, corruption, and conservatism. First, there's a strong status quo bias. The system works as-is, and the tax code is also set up in a way that's relatively simple for the median worker, so there's not a huge benefit to a change. Additionally, the IRS may not have enough data because data collection itself is decentralized. For example, married Americans typically file joint taxes, but the IRS has no way of telling who a taxpayer's spouse is until filing time. Second, a lot of the complexity of US tax law happens on the deduction side, rather than the income side. The US has last-dollar deductions from taxes, so deductions are worth proportionally more for higher-income filers, but the IRS won't necessarily know about charitable deductions or mortgage interest or home office expenses. Third is the aforementioned corruption -- tax-preparation firms consistently lobby against any sort of automatic return. Their arguments are relatively thin: they claim that automatic returns would have people not claiming tax credits they're eligible for and that developing automatic returns would be a waste of government money. In the meantime, they've collectively agreed to a "free file" program for moderate-income Americans -- only the program is barely advertised and full of "pushes" to paid tax offerings. Lastly is the ideology of fiscal conservatism in the United States. Anti-tax politicians (usually Republicans) argue that automatic filing would make it easier for future governments to raise taxes, since people would not have to calculate themselves how much they're paying in federal tax. This is often coupled with farfetched offers to greatly simplify the tax code by (e.g.) replacing it with a flat income tax that collects much less revenue.
- Delk 6y ago
  > Lastly is the ideology of fiscal conservatism in the United States. Anti-tax politicians (usually Republicans) argue that automatic filing would make it easier for future governments to raise taxes, since people would not have to calculate themselves how much they're paying in federal tax. I kind of understand this, but kind of don't. I live in one of the countries where tax forms are pre-filled and you only make corrections for whatever wasn't already known to the tax authority. I don't really need to actively file everything (only deductions etc. that weren't pre-filled), or in the simplest cases anything, but I still definitely know the number under the line. I'd understand it better if automatic filing meant that the total is somehow less clear to you, but it doesn't.