It's somewhere in between. I know of second hand stories where folks were unintentionally strung along by the IRS. They'd get a notice that they underpaid by $X

It's somewhere in between. I know of second hand stories where folks were unintentionally strung along by the IRS. They'd get a notice that they underpaid by $X and it had been Y days with Z% interest being applied. So they send in a check. They get back another notice that their payment was received but the amount due had increased due to interest in the interim so a small balance still remained. Back and forth a few times until finally the person overpays significantly just to end the whole drama until the IRS finally sends a refund. Is this the end of the world? No. It is stupid, stressful, and potentially ruinous given the economic reality that huge swaths of people can't sustain a surprise bill (outdated and likely worse by now: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/20/heres-why-so-many-americans-cant-handle-a-400-unexpected-expense.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/20/heres-why-so-many-americans-...). Now, the cohorts who can't absorb a surprise tax bill likely fall into two camps: unlikely to be hit with a surprise tax bill - their taxes just aren't complicated enough, they don't earn much, etc. But at the same time, surprise 'income' like debt forgiveness can still hurt people.