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If you have only wage income in Germany, as I understand it, there is no need to file a tax return. So you are correct there is no “pre-filled form.” But the system is simple and automated enough that a great many people don’t have to do anything.

Maybe we are talking about different things, but you can definitely pre-fill your tax form with employer and social security data in Germany. In that case, you only have to add information if you want to claim deductions higher than the "Werbungskostenpauschale".

Things usually only get difficult when you are self-employed or have difficult deductions.

Sure, you can do that, or you can have a software do that. But you won't get it filled out by the state + "sign here if everything looks okay".

Plus you always need extra forms for savings etc.

I think this is a case of UK=Europe, even though UK's claim of not being "European"

Not sure what you mean here, in the UK we do not have to do anything for our taxes. They are automatically handled, and in the rare case you need a refund, it's automatic and if you paid less for whatever reason, they just increase your taxes over the next 12 months or whatever.