I agree. In fact, withholding should be done away entirely. Try taking money from people in a non-transparent way and see how well that goes.
It's amazing how quickly someone's feeling on taxation can flip once tax season means writing a check instead of getting a refund.
Of course, that's exactly why the system is set up the way it is; a number on a pay slip feels much less real than dollars that you have to fork over, so people hardly realize the extent to which the government is fleecing them.
I think people would freak out because many would forget to keep money aside to pay for taxes at the end of the year. If it were phased in or there was a large public education campaign to remind people to put money aside I bet there would be less anger.
It's amazing how quickly someone's feeling on taxation can flip once tax season means writing a check instead of getting a refund.
Of course, that's exactly why the system is set up the way it is; a number on a pay slip feels much less real than dollars that you have to fork over, so people hardly realize the extent to which the government is fleecing them.