Tax return

A tax return is the completion of documentation that calculates an entity’s or individual's income earned with the amount of tax payable to the government, government organizations or to potential taxpayers.
Specific tax forms are intended to be used by taxpayers, or private entities that are required to report information on the tax liabilities together with income earners, businesses and companies. 
Taxation is one of the biggest governmental sources of income. There are two types of taxes – direct and indirect - which are both parts of the tax revenue. Tax revenue is the income of government gained from taxes that are levied on income, profit, goods and services, land revenue, ownership and transfer of property, and other taxes. It shows how effectively and to what extent the government manages the resources of the economy. Total tax revenue is than the percentage of GDP which stands as an indicator of the share of the country’s output collected by the government through taxes. Tax revenue is used by governments to grant sums of money to communities, including military, education, hospitals and infrastructure. There are many programs that use money from the tax revenue such as defence and security that includes grants for Department of Defence; social security programs, major health programs, or safety net programs which are for example unemployment insurance, low-income housing assistance, food stamps etc.
In the United States the federal tax laws are administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It is a government entity that fulfills three main functions. Firstly, it processes tax returns. Secondly, it provides services for taxpayers. Thirdly, it enforces the tax laws enacted by Congress. Furthermore, IRS also investigates financial crimes and oversees tax-exempt organizations.
Citizens in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland pay the highest taxes. Aside from the Nordic countries, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium also have high taxes. In contrast to those countries stand Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Monaco, the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, and Andorra which are so-called tax havens. Here the income taxes are either very low or do not exist at all.
Filling in the tax return.
Whether you have to fill in a tax return depends on several parameters, which are different in each country. Generally, you do not need to file a tax return if your income does not exceed a certain amount of money, but other factors such as the type of income, age and filling status also play a role. Sometimes there may be situations where you do not have to fill in the tax return, but you will do so anyway because you will receive a tax refund from the state.
Beware, people often confuse these two terms. But, actually, tax refund is a term that stands for money you have paid to the state in excess of your income tax, in contrast to tax return which is a form you need to fill in every year in order to report your income, expenses and other relevant information. Tax return, therefore, helps you to deal with your tax calculation and then tax payments or tax refund depending on whether you overpaid on your taxes or were in arrears.
The difficulty of filling in a tax return varies from country to country, but governments try to help citizens in different ways. Implementation of electronic filling and payment systems is considered to be the most significant improvement over the years. Recently, great progress has been made for example in Eastern Europe or China, mainly due to digitization. China has introduced for instance a hotline and department for taxpayer services or mobile tax application. Another notable improvement was also the fact that government bodies now share the data among each other. Very effective were also consolidation of taxes or reduction of profit rates.
The length of the completion of tax return depends on the country, but the world average is almost 232 hours.
The three parts of a tax return.
Income: This part consists of all the sources of your revenue. Most widely known method for detailing is a form W-2, obtained from your employer. Wages, salaries, dividends, interest should likewise be considered as a source of revenue.
Deductions: Reasoning or deductions decline in tax debt. For organizations, most expenses specifically identified with business tasks are deductible. Citizens may separate conclusions or utilize the standard derivation for their documenting situation. When the reduction of all outcomes is finished, the citizen may decide their expense rate on their balanced gross salary.
Tax credits: Tax Credits are beneficial incentives to the tax payers. Tax credits reduce the amount of liability paid to the government entaties. Tax credits are more impactful than deductions, because they directly reduce the amount of money owed. If you have $500 in tax credits, and your tax owed is $500, the tax credits will reduce your liability to 0. Tax credits arise from multiple areas. For example, you receive a Child Tax Credit if you cared for a child under 13. If you have qualified educational expenses, you might qualify under American Opportunity Tax Credit.