“Government does not tax to get the money it needs; government always finds a need for the money it gets.” That’s what once said Ronald Reagan about taxes and what it is collected for. Of course, it was a joke, but I may bet there are lots of people, who would agree with that thought. Sometimes they even feel that they are caught in the behemothian jaws of government. In general, tax is money that one has to pay to thhe government so that it can pay for public services.
Great Britain, The United States of America and Lithuania have the similar taxes. And the most known of them, in my opinion, are income tax, state social insurance contributions and VAT (value added tax). Income tax is the amount of money, which is paid by everyone earning a certain income, starting with just a few hundred dollars (pounds, litas) per year. In Lithuania like in other two countries, income tax shhould be paid not only by the native residents, but also by people and organizations that work in the country. In Lithuania, the tax rate is 15 per cent on income from distributed profit, interest, seamen income, income from sporting, artistic ac
In Lithuania a tax period is a calendar month. During the month’s period people are allowed to ask for VAT return for the tax period. That they should do no later than by the 25th of the subsequent month. But it is not obligatory. If person haven’t filled the form, he only wouldn’t be able to get the money back. In comparison with the United States it is not a big deal. In the States forms of Income Taxes should be sent by
In Lithuania taxes are collected and administrated by State Tax Inspectorate (STI) According to the Tax Laws, taxes that were not paid on time and fines that were imposed on taxpayers are collected by STI. It also returns overpayments, executes the decisions of local municipality concerning benefits on taxes, levies and deduction to its budget and funds. Moreover, STI organizes the accounting, evaluation and selling of property, which was forfeited, has no owner, was inherited by the government. Tax administrator’s officers have the right to obtain from enterprises, institutions and organizations as well as from other persons, including banks and other credit and finance institutions, information required for the performance of their duties and copies of documents concerning property and income of legal and natural persons. Also to enter without prior notice, upon presentation of official certificate, into a person’s production premises or territory, in order to establish how the person is fulfilling his tax liabilities and to verify the material and technical resources used for activity and the finished products. With or without suit to recover from legal and natural persons: not paid on time taxes, fines and penalties, as well as other sums belonging to the budget as provided by laws. Have rights to compile protocols of administrative violations of law in cases which according to law are attributed to the administrator’s competence. But in comparison with the USA Tax administrator’s, officers in Lithuania have less power and rights. America’s Tax administrator’s office is a branch of the Department of the Treasury, which is the federal tax collection agency for the States government. IRS officers from the beginning of the activity were given the authority to seize property and income in order to enforce the tax laws. These powers remain pretty much the same today, although the IRS is telling that enforcement tactics have been toned down a bit. The IRS and its forms and procedures are extremely confusing even for many lifelong Americans. That’s why they are afraid of IRS even more than of the robbers. In the UK the department o collecting taxes is called HM Revenue & Customs. As a single department, HMRC have the added benefit of producing greater efficiencies, reducing the tax gap and providing a greater customer focus. HMRC is responsible for collecting the main part of tax money as well as paying tax credits and child benefit, and strengthening the UK’s frontiers.
In conclusion, all these three countries don’t differ a lot one from another. They all have similar taxes, the difference in tax rates is not very significant and even the organisations of collecting and administrating the taxes are very alike and have similar functions and rights. Only the attitude towards the taxes and institutions that collects them is very different. In lithuania we even don’t see tax collectors and in the USA they sow fear among people.
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Bibliography
1. http://www.answers.com
2. http://www.finmin.lt
3. http://www.freema.org
4. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk
5. https://entry.credit-suisse.ch
6. http://europa.eu.int
7. http://immigration.about.com
8. http://nauja.vmi.lt
9. http://www.opsi.gov.uk
10. http://www.patriotist.com
11. http://www.smeda.lt
12. http://www.taxport-usa.com
13. http://www.worldwide-tax.com