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> taxes were relatively simple because I basically had two sources of income (job and interest investments). You enter 2 forms, ignore a lot of prompts in the t

> taxes were relatively simple because I basically had two sources of income (job and interest investments). You enter 2 forms, ignore a lot of prompts in the tax software (do you do X? Do you do Y?) and go for it. You can even file your taxes for free - in theory - if you have a simple life like that. A lot of taxpayers do. That's way too complicated. In the UK, for the vast vast majority of people, there are no forms. if you meet the criteria in this quiz [0] (self employed top 5% of earners, or other large incomes), you get a pre-filled-in form that you enter extra numbers into. For the vast vast majority of people, you never see this form, and most people who fill in this form just click through it. [0] https://www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-tax-return https://www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-tax-return

glimshe 3y ago
You can call it relatively complicated, but it was not complicated in the absolute sense. Perhaps tedious and busy work-ey. The process was basically typing 10-15 numbers that I read from 2 forms sent to me by mail rather than thinking/reasoning. Don't get me wrong, it would be a lot better to not do it like you describe, but as far as bureaucracy is concerned, I'll take this over all the other bureaucracy you have to deal with in Europe. It's the one time in the year that I feel I have to actively deal with the government in the US, at least in the state I live.
- maccard 3y ago
  > ll take this over all the other bureaucracy you have to deal with in Europe I'm a bit surprised to hear this - what do you mean here? My experience is that bureaucracy is rife in the US.