This is kind of mental. In the UK we have nowhere near as many tax deductible things. An ordinary employed person will only ever get tax deductions for pension

This is kind of mental. In the UK we have nowhere near as many tax deductible things. An ordinary employed person will only ever get tax deductions for pension contributions or charitable donations. Almost nobody in the UK even has to file a tax return; data is returned automatically to the government by all employers and so there is no need unless you have certain uncommon circumstances. There are some schemes through employers that reduce your taxable income (for e.g. a scheme to purchase a bicycle tax free) but these are handled by your employer and work by sacrificing some salary in exchange for the benefits.