Blog Note

Looks like TOP's going to be closed for a couple of days while the proprietor takes care of...shhh...the T-word. We will stoke up again on Wednesday morning. Sorry for the interruption in services and we hope it won't provoke any symptoms.

—Mike, Ace Accountant and Comptroller-in-Chief-

Comments

[Christopher Lane]

I hope you come out better than I did. I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.

[Nico]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8176194.stm

[Tom]

I know a guy...

[jörgen]

Swedes get the paperwork already filled in, they can verify it with an SMS, or make adjustments via a web site. Why don't you join us? =)

[Harold McNamara]

T word??

[Mike Johnston]

Nico,
No, rhymes with

http://needswants.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/axe.png

Mike

[Alan]

TOP, VSL and Thom Hogan all taking a break at the same time ? are you guys secretely meeting up to develop a camera of your own?

I hope so

Alan

[Mike Johnston]

Alan,
Probably because we're all working on our taxes. Being a sole proprietorship means never getting to say the work's all done.

Mike

[Ben]

Good luck Mike!

[Rui Silva]

Portugal is like Sweden, we do it online, most of the data is pre-filled we just have to check it and fill the rest.

[Miserere]

At least you didn't leave it till the last day, Mike.

And you know this year it's the 17th, right?

For what it's worth, I recommend TurboTax. It's a pain in the butt the first time around, but I can see it will be saving me time (if not money) in the years ahead as I continue to use it.

[mani]

"Swedes get the paperwork already filled in, they can verify it with an SMS, or make adjustments via a web site. Why don't you join us?"

I don't think Mike would appreciate paying more than double his current rate of taxes, just for the convenience of declaring by SMS.

Incidentally, as a fellow Swedish taxpayer, it seems to me that the only State system that actually works 100% efficiently, is tax collection (if one ignores the massive black economy, that is).

[Christer]

Well, if you run your own business the Swedish taxes aren't quite as simple as OKing an SMS, but they are certainly world apart from the draconian nightmare that is the US tax system. After moving back to Sweden I am now having to deal with filing taxes in two countries for income in both. Ended up biting the bullet and hiring a CPA to deal with it. The IRS has some lovely penalties for overseas filers where you might be fined, oh, ten thousand dollars a month for failing to file a form you might not even KNOW about since it just showed up this year...

[Miserere]

Mani wrote:
I don't think Mike would appreciate paying more than double his current rate of taxes, just for the convenience of declaring by SMS.

But maybe he would appreciate it for the security of free healthcare (including dentist visits) and a state pension when he retired, which I don't think is going to be an option for Mike (which is great news for us TOP followers, of course).

[Mike Johnston]

"maybe he would appreciate it for the security of free healthcare (including dentist visits) and a state pension when he retired"

Plus, don't Swedes get free University as well? I believe Danes do.

I just paid 33% of last year's income to the Federal and State governments. (That self-employment tax is a b@#%ch.) Would I pay 17% more for free University, healthcare, and a pension? You bet.

Mike

[mani]

University study is not 'free' in Sweden, and neither is dental care for adults. These are just part of the myth-making and hypersensitivity of all swedes to any (even mild) criticism of the country, or its system.

As for being fined for not filing a form, I was 'fined' approx $50,000 one year when I ran my own business here simply because the tax office did not believe a bad year had followed a good one. They had no evidence, simply a 'feeling' that something was suspect.

Regarding the Swedish system generally - don't believe the hype. I found public services worked better in other European countries I've lived in, without the ridiculously inflated tax rate (that is dispersed on bureaucracy). Please note that I'm not against high taxes, I'm against waste and lies.

[Cyril]

"Plus, don't Swedes get free University as well? I believe Danes do."

Not sure what a decade or so of right-wing government did to the University system, but when I worked in a Danish University a while ago, not only was enrollment free, but all students were entitled to a scholarship (Statens Uddannelsesstøtte) af around 700$/month (Now up to 1K$ according to wikipedia).

Having lived in several countries over the years, I find that comparing tax rates across countries is usually entirely meaningless anyway, due to the entirely different tax structures and costs of living.