For those who didn’t learn, the Federal income tax only affected the super wealthy. That’s why it was so popular. The rich paid their tax once a year on March 15. Time passes and the Federal government needs more taxes, so the threshold is lowered. Come WWII and not only does the threshold start touching the working average man, but wages are withheld from salary, ie. you owe the money as soon as the money is earned.
That is the brilliance of the thieves in Congress. They instituted the withholding so people don't really see how much is taken out. Even if they owe it is usually not too much and so many get refunds and they seem to think they are getting cash from the government rather than realizing that same government took more than they should have and is giving some back without interest.
A lot of the government house of cards would topple if nothing was withheld and people had to write a check for the total amount and send it in on April 15th. Many would not have the mental ability to save what they owed and then have to try to figure out how to pay. The government at their doors demanding payment would start the next revolution. Even those who did save would be rightly enraged at the amount they had to put in a bank account to then hand over to the government. Everybody would blanch when they figured out the amount they have to pay.
If that one thing happened a vast majority of citizens would be at the doors of their congresscritters with torches and pitchforks demanding massive cuts.