You know, when I lived in the other place, the one that some people decry as socialism or whatever, I could confirm my pay as you go taxes for the year in a few clicks on a free website. Anyway, many hours with TurboTax later, I’ve filed my 2025 return. Please clap.

I have never encountered more bizarre bureaucracy and egregious form filling than in these United States.

@ben my personal interactions with HMRC as a common-or-garden salaried employee with no extra income amounted to:

* receiving two automatic refund cheques after periods of unemployment (unexpected free money in the post is a nice surprise!) and the resulting tax code chaos after getting back on PAYE; and
* asking some questions when I left the UK.

Miss that simplicity, especially as I somehow ended up owing tax this year.