Yes, what you describe is how civilized countries typically process their taxes for the reasons you describe. My understanding is that the US does not do it th

Yes, what you describe is how civilized countries typically process their taxes for the reasons you describe. My understanding is that the US does not do it this way for a couple reasons: 1) lobbying from tax preparation companies and 2) anti-tax advocates who believe that making taxes simpler might result in people becoming less opposed to taxes in general.