I think if we somehow made employees write out the checks to the IRS, people would be more cautious about new gov't spending programs. Even for people earning good money, it's weird to write out checks > $10,000. The checks are bigger than most large purchases-- vacation rental, school tuition, car purchases.

I am a believer in paying taxes to fund social programs (a topic for another thread), but even I stop and think when we send in our quarterlies.

Our friends with standard W-2 payroll jobs may pay the same, but they don't think about it b/c their employers withhold it and send it in with their 941s. Then the employees get a $2,000 refund from the IRS at the end of the year, and they feel like the IRS is Santa Claus.