As a former US resident now living in the beautiful country of Canada, I have some insight on the differences regarding taxes here that I could pontificate on, but as it's a very dull subject I'll summarize heavily (the 1040-EZ version you might say!):
USA: The whole tax system is of course weighted in favour of people who are not you unless you are a oil-producing baby-making factory or farmer. At the higher income levels it gets quite complex, but for poor people it's actually very easy (the 1040-EZ and 1040-A forms are fairly painless). One thing I've noticed over the years is that people who didn't earn enough to pay (income) taxes used to get a modest refund -- that seems to have gone by the wayside somewhere along the way. There are LOADS of exemptions and exceptions for your clever account to find if you can afford him or her.
In my experience, the IRS is actually pretty pleasant to deal with most of the time (their telephone service isn't great, but I happened to have lived near a branch office). They were flexible with me a few years back when I couldn't pay all of my taxes at once and have generally been helpful when I've encountered them. Refunds (when you get them) take FOREVER to show up if you file in April.
CANADA: The tax forms are so byzantine that it makes the US forms look like a putt-putt golf course in terms of difficulty. The complexity pretty much precludes normal people doing their own taxes, so everyone I've met here so far gets an accountant friend or professional to do them in my experience. But since that means they're generally done correctly, refunds are FAST -- just a week or so in my experience, even if you file late. I can't resist adding that although we get universal healthcare and some other benefits of our "socialist" society (hahaha), tax rates aren't really much different -- in fact they are slightly lower. Isn't that interesting.
Comparison of Canadian and US federal tax rates for 2011 « The Dragon Well
I've been told many times (though luckily have no first-hand experience) that Revenue Canada is much less pleasant to deal with if you're in arrears or have problems with your taxes than the IRS (but is also less able to completely ruin your life) -- they are officious, uncaring, bureaucratic and generally Vogon-like, apparently. For most citizens, however, the taxes are a quickly-dealt-with annual nuisance that requires a trip to the accountant but after that is done.
