What does filing taxes look like in other countries?

[PrincessMommy]

It's tax season here in the US.  My 24yr old daughter is sitting here with me working on the EZ tax form.  I noticed that in the time since I was able to use an EZ form  - a very long time - that it's become more complicated.   And that's just Federal tax forms.  Our state tax form is much longer and more confusing.

 

This all got me wondering, esp with a lot of talk about the European model of gov't (please don't talk politics), what it's like to file yearly taxes in other countries.

 

Anyone care to chime in.

 

[mumto2]

The UK is very easy, friendly. All done online. Quick, far easier than the EZ form.

[regentrude]

In Germany, it is as if you are audited every.single.year.

You have to submit every scrap of paper that proves income and deductions - every single receipt for charitable donations or business expenses must be submitted to the agency that is the equivalent of the IRS.

OTOH, you only need to do this if you are in certain tax situations or expect a refund. If you are an average employee and OK with what they deducted from your paycheck over the year, you can choose not to file.

 

Filing US taxes is a piece of cake.

Edited March 22, 2016 by regentrude

[G5052]

We have roots in the Bahamas and still have friends there.

 

They don't pay federal taxes. They do have a V.A.T. on everything now. The last time we were there, friends who run a mom-and-pop grocery store were really complaining about all of the record-keeping.

 

Timely discussion. I've always done ours, even my self-employment part, but I gave up. We had to go with a professional.

Edited March 22, 2016 by G5052

[PrincessMommy]

In Germany, it is as if you are audited every.single.year.

You have to submit every scrap of paper that proves income and deductions - every single receipt for charitable donations or business expenses must be submitted to the agency that is the equivalent of the IRS.

OTOH, you only need to do this if you are in certain tax situations or expect a refund. If you are an average employee and OK with what they deducted from your paycheck over the year, you can choose not to file.

 

Filing US taxes is a piece of cake.

So, filing tax returns is optional - but only because you do it when you expect to get some money back from the gov't?

 

 

[Laura Corin]

I agree, the UK is easy.  I have earned income and also unearned (rental flat).  Online I put in my earned income from the statement produced by my company each year, and tell them the income and expenses from my rental flat.  That's it.  All tax is individual, so there's no juggling joint/individual filing.  We don't have state tax and local taxes are based (very roughly) on house value.

 

Husband's filing of US taxes is much harder.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Laura Corin

[regentrude]

So, filing tax returns is optional - but only because you do it when you expect to get some money back from the gov't?

 

Not quite. It is optional for standard filers in a certain tax class because the withholdings are always more than what they would have to pay.

If you are single and not a single parent or disabled and receive income from a single job, you don't have to file.

If a married couple chooses the tax classes in such a  way that their incomes are taxed at the same rate, they don't have to file.

 

If a married couple has very asymmetric income and chooses different classes for the top earner and the lower earner, they must file because the way taxes are deducted assumes a 60:40 split of incomes. If the incomes have a different ratio, they may not have paid enough taxes.

If you have multiple jobs, you have to file.

 

Edited March 22, 2016 by regentrude

[horsellian]

The UK is very easy, friendly. All done online. Quick, far easier than the EZ form.

Also, many, many people don't have to do a tax return at all since income tax for employees is deducted accurately at source. You only have to do a tax return if you are self-employed or you have other sources of income you need to declare.

[Bluegoat]

I don't feel like it is horrific here in Canada, but I think it could be simpler.  If your situation is straightforward it isn't too bad.  They are really encouraging online submission now and that is easier, though you are still supposed to have all your bits of paper in case they audit you.  Provincial and federal tax are done at the same time.

 

Most people have their tax deducted at work, so if you are reasonably careful you won't have to pay extra, but you still have to file every year.

 

I probably am not the person to ask though as I find even simple tax forms very intimidating - I imagine some scary tax man coming to my house and telling me I've made a terrible error.

[JadeOrchidSong]

For the 30 years I lived in China, I never needed to pay a penny for tax.

In fact, my college and graduate school were not only free, but I had free dormitory, too. Because I lost my fatherr when I was six and my mother when I was 16, the college gave me money each month. Another student lost one parent and got money, too, a little less than me. Other students didn't get any money. On top of that I also got first prize money for being the top student. Those covered my food. I even got paid in graduate school for just being a student, enough to cover my food. In case you are wondering, no, it was not scholarship, it was called salary. I don't know why.

Now free colleges don't exist any more.

[JadeOrchidSong]

For the 30 years I lived in China, I never needed to pay a penny for tax.

In fact, my college and graduate school were not only free, but I had free dormitory, too. Because I lost my fatherr when I was six and my mother when I was 16, the college gave me money each month. Another student lost one parent and got money, too, a little less than me. Other students didn't get any money. On top of that I also got first prize money for being the top student. Those covered my food. I even got paid in graduate school for just being a student, enough to cover my food. In case you are wondering, no, it was not scholarship, it was called salary. I don't know why.

Now free colleges don't exist any more.

[Rachel]

Does China tax businesses or other individuals?

 

For the 30 years I lived in China, I never needed to pay a penny for tax.

In fact, my college and graduate school were not only free, but I had free dormitory, too. Because I lost my fatherr when I was six and my mother when I was 16, the college gave me money each month. Another student lost one parent and got money, too, a little less than me. Other students didn't get any money. On top of that I also got first prize money for being the top student. Those covered my food. I even got paid in graduate school for just being a student, enough to cover my food. In case you are wondering, no, it was not scholarship, it was called salary. I don't know why.

Now free colleges don't exist any more.

[regentrude]

Does China tax businesses or other individuals?

 

 

Of course.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_China

Article lists income tax rates for different incomes

 

 

Taxes provide the most important revenue source for the Government of the People's Republic of China. As the most important source of fiscal revenue, tax is a key component of macro-economic policy, and greatly affects China's economic and social development. With the changes made since the 1994 tax reform, China has preliminarily set up a streamlined tax system geared to the socialist market economy.

China's tax revenue came to 11.05 trillion yuan (1.8 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2013,

Edited March 22, 2016 by regentrude

[chiguirre]

In Venezuela it was a one page form. You're taxed individually on your Vzla based income. Foreign income is not taxed. I agree with Laura's dh, the US taxes for expats are much more complicated.

[JadeOrchidSong]

Does China tax businesses or other individuals?

 

 

No tax was paid by any individuals I knew at the time of my leaving China, my home country, in 2000. I'm sure businesses pay tax.

[Laura Corin]

 I agree with Laura's dh, the US taxes for expats are much more complicated.

 

And as the UK doesn't tax its overseas citizens on overseas earnings, we never paid tax in the UK when we lived in the US or elsewhere outside of Britain.

 

No tax was paid by any individuals I knew at the time of my leaving China, my home country, in 2000. I'm sure businesses pay tax.

 

We paid tax on earnings in China when we lived there from 2004 to 2008.

[mumto2]

And as the UK doesn't tax its overseas citizens on overseas earnings, we never paid tax in the UK when we lived in the US or elsewhere outside of Britain.

 

 

We paid tax on earnings in China when we lived there from 2004 to 2008.

Only two countries in the entire world require citizens to pay taxes while living overseas, the US and Eritrea. Edited March 22, 2016 by mumto2