And yet we have paycheck withholding, which seems to be a relatively complex system and is also the thing that makes actually paying your taxes easy.
Paycheck withholding guarantees you pay your taxes.
Can't forget to file if you already paid all your taxes ahead of time.
Which... I can see an argument for. Especially when coupled with regular payments vs end-of-year.
It's silly for everyone to individually have to think about "How do I get these dollars to the IRS?" all during the year.
It just isn't designed to makes things easier. That is a happenstance (if you don't do withholding you submit quarterly estimate payments which while annoying isn't much harder than tax season)
It is designed to minimize the IRSs job by focusing on businesses rather than individuals for the bulk of taxes.
My point wasn't "you paid early" but "by the time you fill out you already paid"
"How much should I pay?"
"Enough"
"What if I don't pay enough"
"We'll fine you"
"What if I pay too much?"
"We'll refund you, in a year"
...but--and I don't know where the fault here lies--payroll garnished too much. Pay remained 25% less than it should be and my employer's hands were tied unless I had release forms faxed over, and then I had to go harass the state for a refund. Meanwhile, my autopay regimen was disrupted so some bills were going unpaid. But they were more responsible than I was and paid out in 4-6 weeks as promised.
All the time I didn't spend just sitting down and paying the taxes, I ended up spending on phone hold trying to reclaim overpayments and reactivate services. Would have been easier to just pay the taxes in the first place.