You have it.
The withholding is particularly insidious. No one really notices how much money they owe, and they “get free money” at the end, much of the time.
I guarantee if people did not automatically have money withheld from their pay, they’d throw a fit when they never get money from the gov but have to cough up $10,000 in one chunk.
Bastard FDR.
Re withholding: I’ve been saying the same thing for years. If people touched the money first, and then had to pay, taxes would be a LOT lower.
While this was instituted under FDR, the genius who came up with the idea was Milton Friedman (of all people), who was a young research economist. It was enacted during WW II, when the government was desperate to raise money. Milton himself said years later that he’d repeal it if he could.