> Honestly I've found the USA very easy to deal with compared to the UK, France of South Africa where I've lived.
???
France as a foreigner:
You arrive in the country, your employer already declares all taxes for you. While you may not have a tax ID to log in to impots.gouv.fr yet, everything is already registered in your name (because you gave either your SSN, or your visa number, or anything else). You send a letter to ask for a username/password to use to log in on the website, which arrives about two weeks later.
Your taxes are collected monthly, and at the end of the year you pay the leftover/get paid what you overpaid. You can tell the state at any point how much you think you will earn, and it gets reevaluated. Your yearly tax filing is prefilled, and there's no need for any software.
As an employer, the URSSAF website is, while hell to navigate, very clear in how much you owe. Give out your SIRET/SIREN, your tax report, and your taxes are done.
To be fair, there are some small hurdles - you get issued a temporary SSN quickly, but it might take some time and documents ( like an original of your birth certificate less than 6 months old in French, or translated in France by an authorised translator which is a retarded thing to ask for and for which I've had to explain many obvious things to many French officials - they simply do not have the right to ask for that, any EU country's translation is acceptable by law), but it's fine. You don't even need the regular SSN for taxes or healthcare, actually.
Ah yes, the birth certificate thing is... impressive. Especially when it's being asked for someone coming from a country where you simply cannot update your birth certificate. France and inflexibility, especially in small mayor's offices are just standard.
And yeah, the SSN isn't necessary. It is however usable for SSO through ameli.fr, for your taxes and many other services.
???
France as a foreigner:
You arrive in the country, your employer already declares all taxes for you. While you may not have a tax ID to log in to impots.gouv.fr yet, everything is already registered in your name (because you gave either your SSN, or your visa number, or anything else). You send a letter to ask for a username/password to use to log in on the website, which arrives about two weeks later.
Your taxes are collected monthly, and at the end of the year you pay the leftover/get paid what you overpaid. You can tell the state at any point how much you think you will earn, and it gets reevaluated. Your yearly tax filing is prefilled, and there's no need for any software.
As an employer, the URSSAF website is, while hell to navigate, very clear in how much you owe. Give out your SIRET/SIREN, your tax report, and your taxes are done.