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I keep being perplexed by how the Americans do stuff. I am Dutch and my government makes it (relatively) easy to do taxes. We got a website we can go to; it's f

I keep being perplexed by how the Americans do stuff. I am Dutch and my government makes it (relatively) easy to do taxes. We got a website we can go to; it's filled by the government and we just need to verify that it is filled correctly and then click submit. Some people can make adjustments where needed and if needed. You can also let an accountant do it for you but that is optional; but useful if you have had a turbulent year that makes takes more difficult (like selling and buying a new house). When they did not use a website (a few years back) they offered a downloadable application that was available under Windows, MacOS and Linux (GTK). It worked fine.

asciimov 5y ago
> I keep being perplexed by how the Americans do stuff. Our brand of conservatism is informed by Calvinism and hard core Capitalism. Those in charge believe in using religion to control and the purpose of everything is to make someone money.
dado3212 5y ago
Yeah, this kind of thing has been suggested a lot, and then TurboTax lobbies to kill it. See https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f... and more.
sofixa 5y ago
Same here in France, there's a website with a multi-stage form, with fields for various things ( revenues, deductions, etc.). Everything they know (revenues from employment, self-employment, investments via French entities, etc.) is pre-filled, you just have to check it, and if something is missing you add it. For 90% of people it's a matter of next-next-check this value with my payslip-next-next.
- amelius 5y ago
  At what point will taxes be collected at the EU level?
  - aaaaahaaaaa 5y ago
    They're not, EU doesn't collect taxes. It can however influence national tax policies.
- BrandoElFollito 5y ago
  Using the site is easy, it gets much more complicated the moment you have something to add (due to the enormous complexity of the tax system, even for simple things). But I agree that almost for everyone it is a 30 seconds exercise to do the taxes.
Ekaros 5y ago
Finland has it even simpler. If I don't want to add anything they just send me calculation and if I do nothing either I get transferred money or they send me a bill.
globular-toast 5y ago
In the UK, most people don't need to do anything at all. Generally only self-employed or those with "unusual" incomes need to manually declare and pay taxes. It's your duty to check your tax code, but if it's correct (it almost always is) you can just let the system work.
addandsubtract 5y ago
Filing taxes in Germany is just as tedious as in the US. There are a couple of startups now simplifying the process, but at the end of the day, you're still responsible for knowing the tax codes or hiring an accountant.
Vinnl 5y ago
I think the Linux app was TCL/TK, so it looked hideous and quite out of place, but surprisingly was available and worked well. Although I think back then the application was only for filing though - pre-filling was added later. Now with the website it's all much easier still though.

asciimov 5y ago

> I keep being perplexed by how the Americans do stuff. Our brand of conservatism is informed by Calvinism and hard core Capitalism. Those in charge believe in using religion to control and the purpose of everything is to make someone money.

dado3212 5y ago

Yeah, this kind of thing has been suggested a lot, and then TurboTax lobbies to kill it. See https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f... and more.

sofixa 5y ago

Same here in France, there's a website with a multi-stage form, with fields for various things ( revenues, deductions, etc.). Everything they know (revenues from employment, self-employment, investments via French entities, etc.) is pre-filled, you just have to check it, and if something is missing you add it. For 90% of people it's a matter of next-next-check this value with my payslip-next-next.

amelius 5y ago
At what point will taxes be collected at the EU level?
- aaaaahaaaaa 5y ago
  They're not, EU doesn't collect taxes. It can however influence national tax policies.
BrandoElFollito 5y ago
Using the site is easy, it gets much more complicated the moment you have something to add (due to the enormous complexity of the tax system, even for simple things). But I agree that almost for everyone it is a 30 seconds exercise to do the taxes.

Ekaros 5y ago

Finland has it even simpler. If I don't want to add anything they just send me calculation and if I do nothing either I get transferred money or they send me a bill.

globular-toast 5y ago

In the UK, most people don't need to do anything at all. Generally only self-employed or those with "unusual" incomes need to manually declare and pay taxes. It's your duty to check your tax code, but if it's correct (it almost always is) you can just let the system work.

addandsubtract 5y ago

Filing taxes in Germany is just as tedious as in the US. There are a couple of startups now simplifying the process, but at the end of the day, you're still responsible for knowing the tax codes or hiring an accountant.

Vinnl 5y ago

I think the Linux app was TCL/TK, so it looked hideous and quite out of place, but surprisingly was available and worked well. Although I think back then the application was only for filing though - pre-filling was added later. Now with the website it's all much easier still though.