TITLE: Does there exist a functorial splitting for the weight filtration (of singular cohomology)?
QUESTION [7 upvotes]: There are plenty of examples of varieties whose singular cohomology with rational coefficients considered as a mixed Hodge structure does not decompose as the direct sum of its pure (weight) factors. Yet if we consider the cohomology just as filtered vector spaces over rationals, such a decomposition certainly exist (for any variety). 
My question is: could there exist a functorial decomposition like this (say, for the singular cohomology as a functor from the category of all smooth complex varieties), or does there exist some obstruction for such a functorial splitting?

REPLY [2 votes]: There is the Deligne splitting. I take this from Peters and Steenbrink's book, Section 3.1.
For a complex variety $X$, we define $I^{p,q} \subseteq H^{\ast}(X, \mathbb{C})$ by
$$I^{p,q} := F^p \cap W_{p+q} \cap \left( \overline{F}^q \cap W_{p+q} + \sum_{j \geq 2} \overline{F^{q-j+1}} \cap W_{p+q-j} \right).$$
Then $H^{\ast}(X, \mathbb{C}) = \bigoplus I^{p,q}$ and $W_k \otimes \mathbb{C} = \bigoplus_{p+q \leq k} I^{p,q}$ and $F^p = \bigoplus_{r \geq p} \bigoplus_s I^{r,s}$.
In particular, defining $U_k = \bigoplus_{p+q=k} I^{p,q}$ gives a splitting of the weight filtration tensored with $\mathbb{C}$. If I am not mistaken, it is functorial.
The Deligne splitting only exists with $\mathbb{C}$ coefficients. I think Donu Arapura's answer here is fairly convincing that there is no splitting with $\mathbb{Q}$ or $\mathbb{R}$ coefficients. 
Disclaimer: I just learned about this today, so I might be missing something.