alt Hacker NewsIt's completely unbelievable that so-called developed countries are struggling with this in 2026.
In Norway, we've had a more or less automated tax system for many years; every year you get a notification that the tax settlement is complete, you log in and check if everything is correct (and edit if desired) and click OK.
It shouldn't be more difficult than this.
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bdangubic • today at 1:21 PM
how much do Norway tax preparation companies spend on lobbying Norway Politicians each year? :)
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How does Norway handle self-employment? There are a lot of people with self-employment income in the USA, including a lot of tradespeople, freelancers, and contractors. The IRS knows nothing about this until you tell them.
In the simple case of working for one employer all year, no complicated investments or other income, standard deductions, your tax filing in the USA is equally simple and you can complete it in 15 minutes on paper for the cost of a postage stamp.
There are many reasons the US tax situation is complicated. Among them are that it's used to incentivize behavior (tax credits or deductions for various things), there are people invested in it being complicated (tax prep industry), but a big one is that if your situation is complicated, the IRS simply does not have the information it needs until you report it.