[madboston]

Well most people are just not literate when it comes to finances. They are not aware of what withholding means, how to calculate things. I'm sure it's not simple to do when you are working multiple jobs, or temp jobs in between (well these won't be those simple W 2 scenarios we are talking about).

We are know that the tax codes are intentionally complicated and big firms don't want government to fix them. Rules being complected allows having loopholes for certain people.

[akerl_]

I think we’re talking about different, related things.

The tax code in the US (and the filing process) is overcomplicated for a variety of political, corporate, and cultural reasons.

The average US taxpayer is under-educated on finances generally and tax code specifically.

That said, the W-4 is one area that’s actually gotten simpler in recent years. I simultaneously think the tax code needs serious simplification and that the average person has the capacity to read a W-4 and get reasonably close on their withholding. The reason many of them don’t is because they like getting a refund check once a year.