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> The U.S is unique in forcing its citizens to waste countless hours It may be unusual, but it's certainly not unique; I have to fill in a tax-return every yea

> The U.S is unique in forcing its citizens to waste countless hours It may be unusual, but it's certainly not unique; I have to fill in a tax-return every year, because I receive rental income. Anyone in the UK that receives income that isn't taxed at source by their employer has to complete one. The last one I completed was 21 pages long, with notes for each page; a lot of the time I spent was scrabbling through my filing cabinet searching for my evidence. That rental income plus my state pension and bank interest are the only taxable income I receive. At one time I was a company director, and had to fill in personal tax returns. I folded the company, and returned to salaried employment, taxed at source; it took me a decade to get the tax authorities to stop sending me tax return forms that I was required by law to complete.

adwww 5y ago
Even rental income has a fairly generous allowance before you need to file a full tax assessment. The first £1,000 is tax free (presumably the cost of admin makes it easier to let that go). And up to £2,500 you just have to phone / email HMRC.
- nerdawson 5y ago
  The various allowances are certainly helpful but £1,000 doesn’t really factor in when you’re dealing with rental income. Almost every landlord will cross that threshold and should expect to fill a return in. Hearing about how taxes work in other countries makes me grateful for the system we have here. Most people never have to file a return. The people that do have a more complicated arrangement and probably need to summarise expenses, etc.
  - adwww 5y ago
    Sure for any actual landlords, but at that point you're running a business and that's pretty different from 'normal' income. The allowances are more so ordinary people taking in a lodger don't get caught up in tax requirements. You could probably choose to pay yourself a PAYE salary from a limited company and not need to complete a personal tax return.

adwww 5y ago

Even rental income has a fairly generous allowance before you need to file a full tax assessment. The first £1,000 is tax free (presumably the cost of admin makes it easier to let that go). And up to £2,500 you just have to phone / email HMRC.

nerdawson 5y ago
The various allowances are certainly helpful but £1,000 doesn’t really factor in when you’re dealing with rental income. Almost every landlord will cross that threshold and should expect to fill a return in. Hearing about how taxes work in other countries makes me grateful for the system we have here. Most people never have to file a return. The people that do have a more complicated arrangement and probably need to summarise expenses, etc.
- adwww 5y ago
  Sure for any actual landlords, but at that point you're running a business and that's pretty different from 'normal' income. The allowances are more so ordinary people taking in a lodger don't get caught up in tax requirements. You could probably choose to pay yourself a PAYE salary from a limited company and not need to complete a personal tax return.