[Principled]

After having done that, I have no other choice but to feel outraged. I will not vote for, support, campaign for, or donate to any candidate for federal office who does not support the FairTax, including the complete abolishment of the IRS and a repeal of the 16th Amendment.

Welcome aboard Turbopilot. Wouldn't it be something if withholding were abolished and we all paid our taxes in cash like you?

[Turbopilot]

Wouldn't it be something if withholding were abolished and we all paid our taxes in cash like you?

Heh...I think our "betters" in Washington know they'd see riots in the streets if most people actually had to send the government money already in their pockets, rather than having it withheld before it ever gets to the earner.

True story: not long after I started my first job out of college, my employer gave out profit-sharing checks based on time at the company. Since I had been there less than a year, I got the minimum amount - $100. But after withholding, the actual check I deposited was about $65 and change.

As ridiculous and frustrating as I thought it was at the time, it's nothing compared to if I had actually deposited a check for $100 and then had to send the government 35% or so of that money after it was already in my account.

[The Pack Knight]

Wouldn't it be something if withholding were abolished and we all paid our taxes in cash like you?

That's the one condition under which I'd be willing to grudgingly support a flat income tax.

It'll probably never happen, of course. I know a lot of otherwise smart people who are terrified of having to save their own money to pay their taxes on April 15. They actually claim fewer exemptions in order to ensure that even more is withheld, just to make sure they get a refund. It absolutely blows my mind that any reasonable person would do this, but no amount of logic can convince them that they'd be better off in control of their own money.

I'm sure everyone else here knows people like that.