![]() For example, a business owner who needs to file a complex tax return each year may hire an accountant or tax lawyer to do it. Individuals and businesses need to devote resources to complying with the tax code instead of doing other productive activities. The time it takes to comply with the tax code imposes a real cost on the economy. However, the IRS recently revised its estimate of the hours required to comply with business tax returns from 363 million to 2.8 billion, which increased the total time estimate by nearly 50 percent. It wasn’t long ago that official estimates put the annual IRS paperwork burden at 6.1 billion hours. business (2.8 billion hours) and individual income (2.6 billion hours) tax returns (Table 1, below). The majority of the 8.9 billion hours will be spent complying with U.S. This is equal to nearly 4.3 million full-time workers doing nothing but tax return paperwork. Tax complexity creates real costs for American households and businesses, starting with just the time it takes us to comply with the tax code.Īccording to the latest estimates from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Americans will spend more than 8.9 billion hours complying with IRS tax filing requirements in 2016. It Takes America 8.9 Billion Hours to Comply with IRS Paperwork. On top of that, there are almost 60,000 pages of tax-related case law, which are indispensable for accountants and tax lawyers trying to figure out how much their clients actually owe. There are roughly 7.7 million words of tax regulations, promulgated by the IRS over the last century, which clarify how the U.S. However, the tax statutes passed by Congress are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tax complexity. Since then, it has grown to a total of 2.4 million words: almost six times as long as it was in 1955 and almost twice as long as in 1985. In 1955, the Internal Revenue Code stood at 409,000 words. Over the last century, the federal tax code has expanded dramatically in size and scope. Tackling the cost of tax complexity to our nation’s economy should be a priority for lawmakers. This added complexity imposes a real cost on the U.S. For decades, the tax code has become more and more detailed, with thousands of additional pages of statutes, regulations, and case law. However, one often overlooked issue in tax reform is complexity. The United States has a high marginal corporate tax rate, a poorly defined tax base, and an out-of-date international tax system. There are many reasons to reform the U.S. All in all, tax compliance will cost the U.S. ![]() Americans will spend more than 8.9 billion hours complying with IRS tax filing requirements in 2016.Using data from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is possible to estimate the total cost of tax compliance on the U.S.tax code has led to large compliance costs for households and businesses.
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