In 2016, individuals and businesses in the United States submit more than 200 million tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS uses the information in these returns, recorded on hundreds of forms, to administer a tax system whose rules span thousands of pages.[1] The costs (time and money) to comply with tax laws and regulations is $406 Billion and 8.9 Billion hours and exceed the budget of the IRS.[2]
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IRS estimates of taxpayer burden have been based on a model developed in 1984 by the IRS and Arthur D. Little, Inc (ADL). As the economy, tax laws, and characteristics of the population have changed, the IRS/ADL model is out–of–date.
[1]https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/29/15109214/tax-code-page-count-complexity-simplification-reform-ways-means
[2]https://www.treasury.gov/about/budget-performance/budget-in-brief/bib19/16.%20irs%20fy%202019%20bib.pdf