16 Apr 09 One SMS Handles Tax Filing in Sweden
If only it were this simple! Everyone knows that by now, the real problem that people have to address is the filing of their taxes. People are scrambling with all the paperwork and fulfilling the requirements to avoid legal issues and penalties. But did you know that in Sweden, all it takes is one SMS message and you are done?
To file taxes in Sweden all you need to do is open a new text message, enter your Social Security number and a security code sent to you by mail, and zip it off to the Department of the Treasury. This is how lots of Swedish people will file their income taxes in May, as they have for the last five years.
So what’s the downside?
What Swedes actually do with their cell phone is sign a tax declaration that has already been prepared by the country’s tax authority, officially called Skatteverket. It already knows everything about Swedish taxpayers’ income–from a range of sources.
Taxpayers can only sign their forms via text (the number’s 71144) if they accept all the Skatteverket’s calculations and if–to the great joy of the agency–they renounce all deductions.
(Source) NewLaunches.com
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Tags: cell phone, department of the treasury, great joy, income taxes, paperwork, security code, sms message, social security, social security number, sweden, tax declaration, tax filing, taxpayers, text message
