So, when you live abroad, taxes are a nightmare. Last year I had some income from the US and most of my income from Spain. Figuring out how much I owe the US government (considering I pay about 25% tax here) is super confusing.
Know what's not confusing?
Paying taxes in Spain.
Here's how it worked: I made an appointment online yesterday and went in to the office (5 minutes from my house) this morning. I got there and took a number. There was one person in front of me, so I waited about 2 minutes. I handed the woman my income statement from my current workplace and from the University here where I taught a master's class, my rent statements from last year, a copy of my residency card, and a copy of my passport. She spent 5 minutes talking to me about my work and how I liked Spain while she plugged numbers into her magic machine. She then announced I was getting a huge refund, which would be deposited in my account by the end of the week. Complete magic!!
The woman there was helpful, patient, and really interesting, and I was in and out of the office in less than 15 minutes. I don't know of a single government office in the US that can manage that. In spite of it's reputation of being inefficient (and the whole socialism business), things get done so easily here, it makes me wish I could take some of this back to the US.
I discovered recently, luckily, that I am not required to file taxes in The Netherlands. Given that my employment and family and whatnot situation haven't changed, everything from my previous filing holds & my tax rates remain.. pre-calculated & withheld from my paychecks. It's only if I think I might owe or be owed money that I file. So convenient! (Just this week I have filed my US taxes. Boo, IRS.)
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