I suppose that’s a pain, but even the countries where most people just sign off their taxes in an online wizard have the same complications. If you use financial products with complicated tax exemptions, you’ll have to fill in forms. With unregistered income like tips, there is simply no way the government can do this stuff for you, unless all tips are digital and tracked by the government (which most people don’t want, because who really pays full tax over their tips lol).
I personally don’t have these difficulties, but only because none of my savings accounts are exempted with special rules, other than the pension plan (which I’ll be paying tax over the moment I start using it, assuming the pension system doesn’t collapse before then). There’s a flat threshold, and if you have more saving than that (I think it’s 40k?) you start paying a wealth tax.
If you do any stock trading, your broker will probably send you the stuff you need for filing taxes, but you’ll have to fill out the forms or check the assumptions the government made (they like to assume a higher profit margin than you actually got}.
I don’t think many Americans would be very happy if your tax system would be changed to allow for the kind of easy filing we have. Most people would start paying more taxes and the estimates would be higher (meaning you get a higher tax return but less money month to month).
I suppose that’s a pain, but even the countries where most people just sign off their taxes in an online wizard have the same complications. If you use financial products with complicated tax exemptions, you’ll have to fill in forms. With unregistered income like tips, there is simply no way the government can do this stuff for you, unless all tips are digital and tracked by the government (which most people don’t want, because who really pays full tax over their tips lol).
I personally don’t have these difficulties, but only because none of my savings accounts are exempted with special rules, other than the pension plan (which I’ll be paying tax over the moment I start using it, assuming the pension system doesn’t collapse before then). There’s a flat threshold, and if you have more saving than that (I think it’s 40k?) you start paying a wealth tax.
If you do any stock trading, your broker will probably send you the stuff you need for filing taxes, but you’ll have to fill out the forms or check the assumptions the government made (they like to assume a higher profit margin than you actually got}.
I don’t think many Americans would be very happy if your tax system would be changed to allow for the kind of easy filing we have. Most people would start paying more taxes and the estimates would be higher (meaning you get a higher tax return but less money month to month).