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As a Brit it's baffling that this is even an issue. I filed my taxes online with HMRC for free this year (we call it Self Assessment), it took 20 minutes, and I

by nly 2y ago

As a Brit it's baffling that this is even an issue. I filed my taxes online with HMRC for free this year (we call it Self Assessment), it took 20 minutes, and I received a 4 figure refund in ~2 weeks directly in to my bank account.

jimbob45 2y ago
US government services are bad almost across the board. Most of us would pay a premium to use a private version over a government version of almost anything. I’m guessing you would find it equally confusing if I told you we’d pay a premium to use a private DMV or private post office. Here in the US, that statement wouldn’t be controversial at all.
- op00to 2y ago
  I recently renewed my global entry, and it was a piece of cake. I occasionally interact with the FCC because of my amateur radio license, and the FRS is super easy to use. I recently got passports for my kids, and that was super easy to do as well and the passports came much faster than expected.
  - lotsoweiners 2y ago
    > I recently got passports for my kids, and that was super easy to do as well and the passports came much faster than expected. Interesting. I am currently renewing my and my spouse’s passports while also trying to get first time passports for my children and I couldn’t find the process more outdated and borderline kafkaesque. If you told me the website was built in 2003 and hasn’t been updated since then I would believe you. I can only renew my passport by snail mailing everything including my existing passport. I can only get my kids a passport by physically taking them to an approved location for processing. I could not get an appointment for about a month at any location near me. As a bureaucrat myself, I just find this level of hoop jumping to be ridiculous.
    - saratogacx 2y ago
      For a short time (maybe 6 months or so) the state department was testing out fully digital passport renewal. I was able to slip in and it was great, digital phone photo, fill in some forms and I had a new passport in the mail after a couple of weeks (I didn't pay for rush processing). It was taken down after the pilot for them to adjust and fix the process but there are improvements in the works. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew-online.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-pa...
    - op00to 2y ago
      I got an appointment within a week. The post office took the pictures and submitted everything for me. Couldn’t have been easier. Sounds like experience varies based on location. I did a digital renewal for my passport and it was fine also. It’s a once in many year event, so it doesn’t bother me that I need to go to a special place to submit documents.
- wredcoll 2y ago
  I'm in the US and I find your statement confusing. With the exception of the irs which was deliberately made hard to use by the republicans, most government services are fine. I certainly doubt a corporation would do any better.
  - amanaplanacanal 2y ago
    DMV varies quite a bit state by state. Where I live it’s quick and easy, but in some places you go early in the morning, and you should probably pack a lunch.
- fooker 2y ago
  I'm from a third world country and have lived in a few European countries. Switzerland was the only one with better govt service. Everywhere else it was significantly worse than the US. Surprisingly France and Germany were worse than India in terms of obscure things needed for getting anything done and no exceptions for anything. The US on the other hand, if you can go talk to someone in person they'll make it happen.
mrinterweb 2y ago
Turbotax and other like companies lobby for more complex tax law and to restrict access to government services that would assist citizens with filing taxes. The more complex the tax code is, the more people need Turbotax. It is not a healthy dynamic. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/turbotax-lobbies-lawmakers-tax-code-complicated/story?id=18882377 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/turbotax-lobbies-lawmakers-t...
swozey 2y ago
The tax system here (usa) is an absolute joke. I owed $5k this year and I literally did nothing different except receive a small 5% raise last year. I have the most basic taxes you can, single, no kids, no house. Literally just a salary paycheck every 2 weeks. Had no idea I would owe anything, much less that much money until I filed 2 weeks prior to our tax date in April and you're expected to pay everything you owe to them on that date. I sold a house in 2019, I walked away with only about $15k profit after paying everyone. Bought the house for $335, sold for $370ish. I think my principal was around $310k at the sale. I got a letter in 2022 that I owed the IRS something like $150k or so, some shocking amount of money. Freaked me the hell out. I had to dig out all of my paperwork from the sale and send it to them. All of it but, I forget, maybe $100-1k was dropped. I have no idea what their deal with that was. I had a mortgage, paid the mortgage to my mortgage broker, and when I sold it paid the mortgage off to that mortgage broker. Don't they handle that? I don't know, it was my first house sale. I'm 40, I've never had the IRS annoy the hell out of me until the last 5 years and now I get a letter from them and my heart stops.. Like, what is it now, masters of my w2? Where I have erred today? It feels like they're practically targeting me at this point. I get letters from them and wonder if they're even legitimate so I call in to verify. When I go to the irs.gov site that tells you what you owe, it doesn't even match what any of my letters say. Right now it says I owe money from I think 2016 that was sent to collections and I've never received a letter for that. Collections! For my taxes? That you pull out of my paycheck?? I don't have ANYTHING about that on my credit report. I also have no way to pay it because it's "In collections." Seeing all of the rich assholes skate by with tax evasion and all of the loop hole work they do, then knowing they're on my ass when I'm just a dude getting a salary just pisses me off so much.
- junar 2y ago
  Default federal income tax withholding on bonuses is 22%. If your marginal federal tax rate is higher than that, then you underwithheld, meaning you owe more in taxes than you paid over the year. https://pburgoscpa.com/managing-your-bonus-in-nyc-a-high-income-earners-guide-to-avoiding-surprise-tax-bills/ https://pburgoscpa.com/managing-your-bonus-in-nyc-a-high-inc... For your home sale, the person responsible for closing the transaction files Form 1099-S with the IRS, reporting the sale amount (which they're responsible for) but not how much you paid for it (because you're responsible for that). You should have gotten a copy of the 1099-S, which was your clue that you needed to report it on your return.
whimsicalism 2y ago
the tax difficulty in the US is overstated, we have plenty of services that will let you do it for 20 minutes for free. the most popular one is obnoxious and tries to upsell you often, but there are alternatives and you don't need to pay
- BeetleB 2y ago
  I can't speak for the UK, but in many other countries, the tax forms are already filled out and you simply need to verify the numbers. You don't get that in the US.
- cool_dude85 2y ago
  This is true, but up until recently, tax filing companies would also do all kinds of underhanded tricks to make free filing difficult. For example, Turbotax had two different tiers of free tax filing software, one with a much lower income threshold than the federal mandate. You only find out you're in that tier when it comes time to file. Guess which one they bought tons of google ads for?
- demosthanos 2y ago
  I finally tried FreeTaxUSA this past year based on recommendations on HN and it was a huge breath of fresh air compared to TurboTax! They treat you like a person and not a wallet, and it was also just way smoother and easier to understand than TurboTax's nightmarish interface.
resource_waste 2y ago
In the US, its basically that simple if you arent a business owner. Might even be simpler. You type in like 14 numbers, each very clearly delineated. But... if you are a business owner, it takes like 2-3 weekends. (I say weekends, because we work all day during the week)
- BeetleB 2y ago
  There's a big gap between the two, with many individuals in between. Do you participate in SPP? Then the form you get will have an incorrect cost basis and you need to manually correct them. I guarantee it. Do you trade individual stocks (e.g. RSUs)? A bit more work. Got a K-1 form from an investment? Could be straightforward, or if it's real estate, a major pain to fill out those tax forms.
tekla 2y ago
Taxes are simple if you have a single W2. People just don't like reading the piece of paper in front of them.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

by nly 2y ago

jimbob45 2y ago

US government services are bad almost across the board. Most of us would pay a premium to use a private version over a government version of almost anything. I’m guessing you would find it equally confusing if I told you we’d pay a premium to use a private DMV or private post office. Here in the US, that statement wouldn’t be controversial at all.

op00to 2y ago
I recently renewed my global entry, and it was a piece of cake. I occasionally interact with the FCC because of my amateur radio license, and the FRS is super easy to use. I recently got passports for my kids, and that was super easy to do as well and the passports came much faster than expected.
- lotsoweiners 2y ago
  > I recently got passports for my kids, and that was super easy to do as well and the passports came much faster than expected. Interesting. I am currently renewing my and my spouse’s passports while also trying to get first time passports for my children and I couldn’t find the process more outdated and borderline kafkaesque. If you told me the website was built in 2003 and hasn’t been updated since then I would believe you. I can only renew my passport by snail mailing everything including my existing passport. I can only get my kids a passport by physically taking them to an approved location for processing. I could not get an appointment for about a month at any location near me. As a bureaucrat myself, I just find this level of hoop jumping to be ridiculous.
  - saratogacx 2y ago
    For a short time (maybe 6 months or so) the state department was testing out fully digital passport renewal. I was able to slip in and it was great, digital phone photo, fill in some forms and I had a new passport in the mail after a couple of weeks (I didn't pay for rush processing). It was taken down after the pilot for them to adjust and fix the process but there are improvements in the works. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew-online.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-pa...
  - op00to 2y ago
    I got an appointment within a week. The post office took the pictures and submitted everything for me. Couldn’t have been easier. Sounds like experience varies based on location. I did a digital renewal for my passport and it was fine also. It’s a once in many year event, so it doesn’t bother me that I need to go to a special place to submit documents.
wredcoll 2y ago
I'm in the US and I find your statement confusing. With the exception of the irs which was deliberately made hard to use by the republicans, most government services are fine. I certainly doubt a corporation would do any better.
- amanaplanacanal 2y ago
  DMV varies quite a bit state by state. Where I live it’s quick and easy, but in some places you go early in the morning, and you should probably pack a lunch.
fooker 2y ago
I'm from a third world country and have lived in a few European countries. Switzerland was the only one with better govt service. Everywhere else it was significantly worse than the US. Surprisingly France and Germany were worse than India in terms of obscure things needed for getting anything done and no exceptions for anything. The US on the other hand, if you can go talk to someone in person they'll make it happen.

mrinterweb 2y ago

Turbotax and other like companies lobby for more complex tax law and to restrict access to government services that would assist citizens with filing taxes. The more complex the tax code is, the more people need Turbotax. It is not a healthy dynamic. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/turbotax-lobbies-lawmakers-tax-code-complicated/story?id=18882377 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/turbotax-lobbies-lawmakers-t...

swozey 2y ago

The tax system here (usa) is an absolute joke. I owed $5k this year and I literally did nothing different except receive a small 5% raise last year. I have the most basic taxes you can, single, no kids, no house. Literally just a salary paycheck every 2 weeks. Had no idea I would owe anything, much less that much money until I filed 2 weeks prior to our tax date in April and you're expected to pay everything you owe to them on that date. I sold a house in 2019, I walked away with only about $15k profit after paying everyone. Bought the house for $335, sold for $370ish. I think my principal was around $310k at the sale. I got a letter in 2022 that I owed the IRS something like $150k or so, some shocking amount of money. Freaked me the hell out. I had to dig out all of my paperwork from the sale and send it to them. All of it but, I forget, maybe $100-1k was dropped. I have no idea what their deal with that was. I had a mortgage, paid the mortgage to my mortgage broker, and when I sold it paid the mortgage off to that mortgage broker. Don't they handle that? I don't know, it was my first house sale. I'm 40, I've never had the IRS annoy the hell out of me until the last 5 years and now I get a letter from them and my heart stops.. Like, what is it now, masters of my w2? Where I have erred today? It feels like they're practically targeting me at this point. I get letters from them and wonder if they're even legitimate so I call in to verify. When I go to the irs.gov site that tells you what you owe, it doesn't even match what any of my letters say. Right now it says I owe money from I think 2016 that was sent to collections and I've never received a letter for that. Collections! For my taxes? That you pull out of my paycheck?? I don't have ANYTHING about that on my credit report. I also have no way to pay it because it's "In collections." Seeing all of the rich assholes skate by with tax evasion and all of the loop hole work they do, then knowing they're on my ass when I'm just a dude getting a salary just pisses me off so much.

junar 2y ago
Default federal income tax withholding on bonuses is 22%. If your marginal federal tax rate is higher than that, then you underwithheld, meaning you owe more in taxes than you paid over the year. https://pburgoscpa.com/managing-your-bonus-in-nyc-a-high-income-earners-guide-to-avoiding-surprise-tax-bills/ https://pburgoscpa.com/managing-your-bonus-in-nyc-a-high-inc... For your home sale, the person responsible for closing the transaction files Form 1099-S with the IRS, reporting the sale amount (which they're responsible for) but not how much you paid for it (because you're responsible for that). You should have gotten a copy of the 1099-S, which was your clue that you needed to report it on your return.

whimsicalism 2y ago

the tax difficulty in the US is overstated, we have plenty of services that will let you do it for 20 minutes for free. the most popular one is obnoxious and tries to upsell you often, but there are alternatives and you don't need to pay

BeetleB 2y ago
I can't speak for the UK, but in many other countries, the tax forms are already filled out and you simply need to verify the numbers. You don't get that in the US.
cool_dude85 2y ago
This is true, but up until recently, tax filing companies would also do all kinds of underhanded tricks to make free filing difficult. For example, Turbotax had two different tiers of free tax filing software, one with a much lower income threshold than the federal mandate. You only find out you're in that tier when it comes time to file. Guess which one they bought tons of google ads for?
demosthanos 2y ago
I finally tried FreeTaxUSA this past year based on recommendations on HN and it was a huge breath of fresh air compared to TurboTax! They treat you like a person and not a wallet, and it was also just way smoother and easier to understand than TurboTax's nightmarish interface.

resource_waste 2y ago

In the US, its basically that simple if you arent a business owner. Might even be simpler. You type in like 14 numbers, each very clearly delineated. But... if you are a business owner, it takes like 2-3 weekends. (I say weekends, because we work all day during the week)

BeetleB 2y ago
There's a big gap between the two, with many individuals in between. Do you participate in SPP? Then the form you get will have an incorrect cost basis and you need to manually correct them. I guarantee it. Do you trade individual stocks (e.g. RSUs)? A bit more work. Got a K-1 form from an investment? Could be straightforward, or if it's real estate, a major pain to fill out those tax forms.

tekla 2y ago

Taxes are simple if you have a single W2. People just don't like reading the piece of paper in front of them.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]