Americans may balk at the 17.5% value-added tax (VAT) in the UK. But because it's a national tax, it's usually included in the price of merchandise and you don't get sticker shock when the cashier rings up your purchase. Of course instead of one tax rate on goods and services, the U.S. has to make things complicated by letting every city decide their own tax rate. So you might pay 8.5% in San Francisco or 10.25% in Chicago for the same t-shirt from The Gap. Want to buy a car? Well, even if you buy it somewhere with lower taxes than your city, you'll have to pay based on where you live.
Since moving to California, I've experienced some fun new taxes, such as the mandatory $25 "electronic waste recycling fee" we had to pay when we bought a new TV. This despite the fact that we didn't have a previous TV and thus were not recycling anything.
We spotted a mandatory "health fee" of $1.50 per person on our restaurant bills, to cover the employer's cost of the "Healthy San Francisco" health-coverage system.
I also had to file a "Business Property Statement" for my business so that the California government can tax me on anything I use for business purposes, including my 2.75 year old laptop which is on its last legs and therefore is now worth practically nothing.
Of course the UK has its own unique taxes, such as the "TV License fee". If you own a color TV, you have to pay an annual fee of £142.50 just to watch it. The license fee pays for worthy programs on the BBC, such as the news, along with massive salaries for talentless TV talk show hosts.
I will say the process of filing a tax return is much, much easier in the UK. In fact, in many cases, you don't need to file one at all.
If you pay tax on your earnings or pensions through PAYE (Pay As You Earn) your employer or pension provider deducts tax on our behalf and you won't usually need to complete a tax return.
Something for Americans to think about on tax day and, perhaps, on election day.
