IRS Fun Facts
Did you know?
The Gettysburg address is 269 words, the Declaration of Independence is 1,337 words, and the Holy Bible is only 773,000 words. However, the tax law has grown from 11,400 words in 1913, to over 1 million words today.
There are at least 800 different tax forms, each with many pages of instructions.
American taxpayers spend $200 billion and 5.4 billion hours working to comply with federal taxes each year, more than it takes to produce every car, truck, and van in the United States.
The burden of compliance is the equivalent to a staff of 3 million people working full time for a year, just to comply with the taxes on individuals and businesses.
The IRS employs 74,454 people (in 2019); that's about twice as many as the CIA and five times more than the FBI.
37% of taxpayers must hire a professional to get through their own return.
Taxes eat up 38.2% of the average family's income; that's more than for food, clothing and shelter combined.
AND THAT IS ONLY THE FEDERAL TAX---NOT COUNTING STATE, LOCAL, PROPERTY, SALES TAX, ETC.
This article was written by Nancy K. Phillips, CFP®, CPA and/or her staff. It is intended to provide you with an informative summary of current business, financial and/or tax planning news. Do not apply this general information to your specific situation without additional details and/or professional assistance.
The Gettysburg address is 269 words, the Declaration of Independence is 1,337 words, and the Holy Bible is only 773,000 words. However, the tax law has grown from 11,400 words in 1913, to over 1 million words today.
There are at least 800 different tax forms, each with many pages of instructions.
American taxpayers spend $200 billion and 5.4 billion hours working to comply with federal taxes each year, more than it takes to produce every car, truck, and van in the United States.
The burden of compliance is the equivalent to a staff of 3 million people working full time for a year, just to comply with the taxes on individuals and businesses.
The IRS employs 74,454 people (in 2019); that's about twice as many as the CIA and five times more than the FBI.
37% of taxpayers must hire a professional to get through their own return.
Taxes eat up 38.2% of the average family's income; that's more than for food, clothing and shelter combined.
AND THAT IS ONLY THE FEDERAL TAX---NOT COUNTING STATE, LOCAL, PROPERTY, SALES TAX, ETC.
This article was written by Nancy K. Phillips, CFP®, CPA and/or her staff. It is intended to provide you with an informative summary of current business, financial and/or tax planning news. Do not apply this general information to your specific situation without additional details and/or professional assistance.