[renholder]

>Is this similar to PAYE or do you actually have to submit a tax return but it's pre-filled for you?

As long as your PAYE is like Ireland's (ROI) PAYE, then the American's system is far-removed from it.

Even though their tax revenue office gets the reports from businesses for how much they were paid and how much taxes they paid, the Americans still need to fill out a tax form - every year - to repeat the same information (it's an added benefit for the prison system, in that mistakes on tax forms can equate to jail time). They get a form from their employer (which their tax office also has), that contains all of this information.

>In the UK, most people don't have to submit a tax return at all. Not sure the actual cost of this, but the convenience is unparalleled.

Aye, it's the same in Ireland (ROI). You can just call-up or email Revenue and they check if you've overpaid, by how much, and they just send you the money. No forms. No bullshit. No threats of jail time. It's pretty deadly[0].

You want nothing to do with the Yanks' tax system, trust me.

[0] - https://www.whygo.com/ireland/irish-slang-deadly.html

[rayiner]

> Even though their tax revenue office gets the reports from businesses for how much they were paid and how much taxes they paid, the Americans still need to fill out a tax form - every year - to repeat the same information (it's an added benefit for the prison system, in that mistakes on tax forms can equate to jail time). They get a form from their employer (which their tax office also has), that contains all of this information.

You seem quite ignorant of the U.S. tax system. There are no criminal penalties for mistakes on your tax form. (the IRS doesn't even have prosecution authority--all it can do is collect evidence of a crime, and refer the case to the Department of Justice.)

And your tax return doesn't just "repeat the same information" as your W-2s. For example, the W-2 reports income on an individual basis, while married couples file a return as a single unit. The amount of tax owed will generally be different for married couples versus the amount of tax withheld. (And there is no federal government database of marriages the IRS can use to match up things on the back end.) The IRS also has no idea how many children you have living with you, and can't give you the appropriate credits for that.

[renholder]

>There are no criminal penalties for mistakes on your tax form.

Odd, I thought you faced the penalty of perjury[0]?

[0] - https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2017/02/15/fudging-y...

[yellow_postit]

A tweak to W4 could easily encapsulate planned filing status.

Tax returns really do take a huge majority of repeat information and a tiny amount of additional metadata.

There's no reason for the vast majority of Americans this couldn't be automated.