Complex Tax Compliance Rules Cost Americans $546 Billion Yearly

Compliance with tax rules in the United States costs the country more than half a trillion dollars annually as taxpayers attempt to follow the onerous regulations, according to a recent report by the nonprofit Tax Foundation. This year, Americans are expected to spend over 7.9 billion hours complying with Internal Revenue Service filing and reporting requirements, the Tax Foundation said in an Aug. 6 report. “If we assume a reasonable hourly wage, the 7.9 billion hours Americans spend complying with the tax code costs the economy roughly $413 billion in lost productivity,” the foundation said. “In addition, the IRS estimates that Americans spend roughly $133 billion annually in out-of-pocket costs to comply with the tax code. This brings the total compliance costs to $546 billion, or nearly 2 percent of GDP.”...