I could write an essay on the fun and excitement of filing taxes in two different countries, the US and the UK. The short story is forget using Turbo Tax! But rather than an essay, I'll spin my story over time on the blog. Over in the US, Monday is Tax Day, when everyone will be making a mad dash to various post offices in order to get that postmark proving you filed on time. Just be glad you don't live in the UK.

Tax Day over here was January 31, and unlike in the US, a postmark won't cut it. It's a stupid system. Your form has to actually be with the Inland Revenue by the due date. That means a large number of people descend upon a relatively small number of UK tax offices for receipts that prove they delivered forms in time. In contrast, getting a postmark in the US means the load is distributed across thousands of post offices.

One upside to the UK system is making three payments per year, rather than four. And the way things work out, you end up holding on to the bulk of your money until the very last minute, if you're self-employed.

That's finally changing, though. New rules mean that the final filing deadline will move to November 30 for the year you are filing, rather than January 30.

What's this "the year you are filing" business? It's like this. In the US, you file on a calendar year basis. All of 2005 will elapse, then by April 17, 2006, you have to file your return for the previous year, earnings from January 1 through December 31, 2005.

The UK runs a fiscal year from April 6 through the following April 5. That means the 2005-2006 tax year will run from April 5, 2005 through April 6, 2006. When do you file your return for the 05-06 year? By January 31, 2007! That's nine months after the year ends, versus four months after the US year ends.

By the way, those of us outside the US get an automatic extension of time to file, through June 15. No paperwork required. We can easily get extended through October and even to December, if we request.

Aren't we lucky! No, we aren't. We need the extra time because our forms are so flippin' complicated to fill out.

In the UK and need that last minute filing advice? Remember, the IRS at the US Embassy is your friend. Here's the IRS site there.

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