[Taniwha]

Here in New Zealand this all looks very familiar - we too have NO deductions for most tax payers - I run a small company, do the payroll and tax stuff in a spreadsheet - one simple line per employee.

Most people who have just one job end up paying exactly the right amount of tax (that 1 line in my spreadsheet) and don't need to file - if you have multiple jobs you may get money back (depending on how you registered your second job) if you don't file the IRD will send you a cheque (we don't do cheques any more, they'll drop it in your bank account).

It doesn't have anything to do with GDP, we used to have that complex tax system, about 30 years ago we chose to change it - what it takes is politicians with the political will to change things