A closer look
Before WWII, Americans paid their income taxes in a massive, painful lump sum every March. Recognizing that wartime tax hikes would cause mass defaults, Macy's executive Beardsley Ruml designed the 'pay-as-you-go' system. He convinced the government to force employers to secretly siphon taxes directly out of worker paychecks before they even touched the money. By relying on fiscal invisibility, Ruml brilliantly weaponized human laziness, ensuring the working class never actually sees the money the state is taking.
