Re: Toronto/Canada facts.
Simple. The government is kept informed by other sources about your financial matters due to more state oversight of the details of your life. In the UK, the government keeps a lot more information on the personal and financial status of residents than in the USA.
You only need to file a tax return if you are:
- self employed people (including members of a partnership)
- company directors
- ministers of religion (any faith)
- people who get rent or income from land and property in the UK (but if you are an employee and this income is less than £2,500 a year a tax return may not be necessary)
- people who have other untaxed income and the tax due on it cannot be collected though a PAYE tax code
- people with taxable foreign income, even if they are not normally resident in the UK (this includes non-resident landlords)
- anyone who receives annually (or can be treated as receiving) income from a trust or settlement, or any income from the estate of a deceased person, and further tax is due on that income
- trustees and personal representatives (including people who manage the tax affairs of deceased persons)
- trustees of certain pension schemes
- names or members of Lloyd’s
These are the only people for whom the government does not have full access to all financial details.