> I guess it was originally done this way because in the past people actually had some semblance of privacy and the government didn't actually know a great deal about people's income.
You still had to file taxes, though, so they would know about your income, if only a year behind. I read somewhere that tax withholding only started during WWII (and it was supposed to be temporary). It's really the withholding that would give the IRS the information needed to file your taxes in advance, so it's only a fairly recent possibility.
None of which apply to the vast majority of filers.
Nobody is saying filing taxes should never be necessary. Only that it shouldn’t be necessary for most people.
The flow should be… Employer and financial institutions send info to IRS (they mostly do already). Then, in January, IRS sends a “Is this correct?” notice to residents. If correct, no action is needed. If not correct, then make adjustments.
How would the residents verify the amount on the notice is correct? It sounds like the residents would have to do their taxes to verify the amount on the notice....
free-file is entirely voluntary. You can still submit the forms yourself if you want.
free-file is estimated to cover 47% of Americans. we fund public schools even though a significantly smaller proportion of Americans are children. you would have a hard time finding any government service that applies to 100% of people
You still had to file taxes, though, so they would know about your income, if only a year behind. I read somewhere that tax withholding only started during WWII (and it was supposed to be temporary). It's really the withholding that would give the IRS the information needed to file your taxes in advance, so it's only a fairly recent possibility.