It is taken from the payslip. But then they have us verify what they already know and if you make a mistake you're punished for it! It's bullshit.

I want so bad for the US to do it the way every sane country does it; they just send me a thing so I can make sure they're accurate and only need to take action if they fuck up.

But what about the tax preparation industry? Won't anybody think of the shareholders? For shame.

Yuuuuuuup.

That's how it is here in France. It is calculated according to the previous year income, so if you get a raise you'll have to pay a little bit more at the end the following fiscal year, but that's often very little. Last time I got a 2500€ yearly raise, I had to align something like... 100€ 😆.

Taxes are taken from the payslip, but there's a bunch of other things that can affect your income taxes. For example, you need to pay income tax on bank interest and capital gains tax on investments you sold during the year. There's also a bunch of deductions that reduce your taxable income - for example, if you have a mortgage, you can deduct some of the interest.

Of course, the IRS should already know most of this stuff, so I'm not sure why they make us tell them again.

Taxes are also the problem in countries like the US and China wherein income tax only exists to remove currency from circulation. There's plenty of other ways to do that in a digital world.

The people most capable of carrying the tax burden are the people most likely to cheat their way out of paying taxes.

Now that it's clear the Federal government is just using tax money to give to billionaires, it's going to be extra painful this year. It genuinely just feels like a protection racket now. Pay money to the ruling class, or their enforcers will haul you away to prison.

I'm not sure what country you're talking about, but I assume the U.S. We do have taxes deducted from payroll, and you fill out a form telling the employer (and the IRS) what amount to deduct based on estimated income, family size, and a couple of other factors. Then in April we have to file our official tax form declaring actual income, and if we owe less than what was deducted from our paychecks we receive that back as a refund, but if we underestimated we have to pay whatever taxes are remaining. The reason that filing taxes is so complicated is the sheer volume of deductions, exemptions, credits, etc that have been piled on top of the tax code over the years (plus lobbying by the tax prep industry). It's a stupid system, but it's not as stupid as some people seem to be assuming in this thread. If you set up your withholding right, you shouldn't ever owe taxes when it's time to file.

Now, if you're self-employed or a contractor (and considered self-employed) the whole thing kind of falls apart and it's a lot easier to wind up owning a bunch of money. Like I said, it is a stupid system, just not quite as crazy as some people seem to be assuming.

And what would that do?

They already run a deficit, so they'll run a bigger deficit. Printing money is a flat tax on everyone. So not paying taxes is just applying a flat tax on others.

Plus you get to go to jail and cost me money to support you there.

I'm all for effective protest, but this doesn't seem to be it.

Good luck getting that tariff money to pay for local roads and schools.

I'm sure that Elon Musk will agree with you.

Before the feds went fascist, this was hyperbole. Now it's simply the truth, for federal, anyway. At least my state taxes are still being used for public benefit.

Bracketed income tax is a thing for a reason, and it is a good reason.

more income == more tax.

If I'm making less than $20k/year, there's no reason to give a shit about my taxes, just let me live yo.

If I'm making $200k+/year, then we have a conversation on our hands.

If I'm making 2,000k+/year, then we have a problem and the conversation should have have been completed by now.

edit:

exact numbers are not relevant. if you have a functioning brain, then you know what I mean.