Well, what most americans don't understand is the system in which we live.
The W-4 is an optional document. No one needs to file it. There are provisions for is you do not. The bigger question is WHO is supposed to file it. Companies that have an EIN are required to ask for you to complete it. (Another question is: who really needs an EIN?) Once the W-4 is in hand, the system can begin to function. The SSN is on the W-4. Who is required to have a SSN? Not the common american. Most of us have one now days because the IRS required it for us to be claimed as a dependent. (This only started in the 1970's) Clearly, if you were not claimed, then you never needed a SSN. Without that SSN, you can;t complete the W-4. Americans are generally good people, and knowing they have a SSN, they will find it ut anc complete the form. The person has made their first mistake. They assumed that the government and/or the person requesting the W-4 has legitimate authority and a requirement to do so.
“Persons dealing with government are charged with knowing government statutes and regulations, and they assume the risk that government agents may exceed their authority and provide misinformation” Lavin v. Marsh, 644 F.2nd 1378, 9th Cir., (1981)
“All persons in the United States are chargeable with knowledge of the Statutes-at-Large…. It is well established that anyone who deals with the government assumes the risk that the agent acting in the government’s behalf has exceeded the bounds of his authority." Bollow v. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 650 F.2d 1093, 9th Cir., (1981)
Once a W-4 has been recorded, the whole system swings into motion. It is the W-4 that creates the requirement that the W-2 be issued. And without that W-2, there is no presumption of income from your job at the IRS.
The next question is what is "income"
We must reject in this case, as we have rejected in cases arising under the Corporation Excise Tax Act of 1909, the broad content on submitted in behalf of the government that all receipts-everything that comes in-are income within the proper definition of the term 'gross income,'" Southern Pacific V. Lowe, 247 U.S. 330 (1918)
"'From whatever source derived,' as it is written in the Sixteenth Amendment, does not mean from whatever source derived." WRIGHT v. UNITED STATES, 302 U.S. 583 (1938)
So the question remains, what is income that has to be reported to the IRS?