Yeah, having grown up with the Swedish tax department and seeing the US struggling I can't help but think it must be intentional. I basically get a form every year with my total income and loans on it, an explanation and columns of how much I've paid in taxes, how much I owe or an getting back and a "would you like add anything". Then I either send back the form signed and completed or send the SMS to let them know I agree with the figures on it or I can do it all online. There's a helpline if I have any questions and they are very helpful.
Seriously, the US version just looks like intentional sabotage.
The drawback in Sweden is that it's hard to keep any assets "off the grid." But having lived on both sides of the pond, I vastly prefer the Swedish way.
The US way IS intentional sabotage. The way I'd actually wanna go is Estonia's way, it's a lot like the Swedish, except for other services as well, and while it can be hacked, there's absolutely zero reason to as you cannot actually do anything with anyone's information. I watched a dude straight up give out his pin numbers on tv, proceed to login, using that info, and show everyone how it worked using his own personal account while he was sitting on a bus. It wasn't cuz he was poor or anything, there was just no harm in doing so due to way the whole system is setup. That's all on top of a tax rate that is the most competitive in the world.
Seriously, the US version just looks like intentional sabotage.