Comments on: The US tax system and collective American madness http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/ An infuriatingly infrequently updated reflection on the Internet, the US, and life in general Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:33:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: T http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-249433 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:57:32 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-249433 actually, maybe you should not have had that big a refund. Depending on the agreement between your home country and the US, when working part of the year in one country and part of the year in the US you may not have as many deductions as if you worked the entire year in the US. I cant remember when you joined icann nor do i know the rules from the UK....but...maybe - alternatively, David is right that you need to chnage what you pay throughout the year :) actually, maybe you should not have had that big a refund. Depending on the agreement between your home country and the US, when working part of the year in one country and part of the year in the US you may not have as many deductions as if you worked the entire year in the US. I cant remember when you joined icann nor do i know the rules from the UK….but…maybe - alternatively, David is right that you need to chnage what you pay throughout the year :)

]]> by: David Conrad http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-226487 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:19:33 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-226487 If you had a large refund, you could probably change your number of deductions. Yes it is odd. If you had a large refund, you could probably change your number of deductions.

Yes it is odd.

]]> by: Kieren http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-226244 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:16:18 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-226244 Hey Leo, Why do I think it's such an American thing? Because I was talking about it here (in the US) and everyone was completely at ease with the idea of a tax refund. A large number *expected* a tax refund. And some were annoyed they weren't *getting* a tax refund. This is completely alien to me. I file my tax return and then I have to hope I've saved enough to pay the bill. I suppose the difference is that in the US you *have* to file a tax return, so there is much more institutionalised pre-paid tax from employers and so to be conversative and save nationwide pain, it tends to be over what's needed; whereas in the UK, an employee mostly doesn't have to bother. Still strikes me as odd. Kieren Hey Leo,

Why do I think it’s such an American thing?

Because I was talking about it here (in the US) and everyone was completely at ease with the idea of a tax refund. A large number *expected* a tax refund. And some were annoyed they weren’t *getting* a tax refund.

This is completely alien to me. I file my tax return and then I have to hope I’ve saved enough to pay the bill.

I suppose the difference is that in the US you *have* to file a tax return, so there is much more institutionalised pre-paid tax from employers and so to be conversative and save nationwide pain, it tends to be over what’s needed; whereas in the UK, an employee mostly doesn’t have to bother.

Still strikes me as odd.

Kieren

]]> by: Leo http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-226227 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:23:06 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2008/04/15/the-us-tax-system-and-collective-american-madness/#comment-226227 Why do you think the tax refund is such an American thing? I've had tax refunds from the Inland Revenue in Britain and from the Dutch tax authorities. Some of it's bad system design, some of it's bad tax code and some of it's the inability to predict changes in circumstances that will result in less tax being owed. To their credit though, at least the Dutch tax authorities paid interest on the money they owed me, which made the whole thing that much more palatable. Why do you think the tax refund is such an American thing? I’ve had tax refunds from the Inland Revenue in Britain and from the Dutch tax authorities. Some of it’s bad system design, some of it’s bad tax code and some of it’s the inability to predict changes in circumstances that will result in less tax being owed.

To their credit though, at least the Dutch tax authorities paid interest on the money they owed me, which made the whole thing that much more palatable.

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