IRS tax system needs updating

To support international Americans British businesses and British individuals earning income in the US the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS’s) complex and pre-digital tax system urgently needs updating.

Although UK nationals living outside the country are liable to UK tax only on income earned in the UK they still face the daunting prospect of tackling the IRS’s tax returns on income earned in the US.

Both HMRC and the IRS have been subject to a reduction of agents to assist taxpayers in favour of investment in computer and data tools. But HMRC’s digitalisation is more complete and allows taxpayers to do their returns for free. In the US there are a limited number of free filing tools and many more paper tax returns which means the IRS has much more administrative work to do than HMRC. Paper cheques fax machines and post processing backlogs continue...