If
you
feel
like
“America’s
Insane
Tax-Filing
Process”
is
a
drain
on
both
your
time
and
your
wallet,
you’re
not
alone.
Even
the
government
recognizes
the
effort
that
tax
compliance
places
on
Americans,
publishing
an
estimated
total
annual
cost
burden
for
U.S.
individual
income
tax
returns.
It
turns
out
that
preparing
and
submitting
individual
income
tax
returns
costs
taxpayers
more
than
$91
billion
a
year
—
nearly
half
of
which
represents
the
opportunity
cost
of
all
those
lost
hours
spent
tracking
down
receipts,
reviewing
instructions,
and
filling
out
and
submitting
the
return.
According
to
the
IRS,
it
takes
taxpayers
an
average
of
12
hours
to
prepare
and
file
their
return.
Most
also
pay
an
average
of
$290
for
related
costs
(e.g.,
tax
software,
third-party
preparers,
printing,
mailing).
Collectively,
Americans
spend
1.95
billion
hours
and
$49.76
billion
to
file
their
returns.
The
IRS
estimates
that
the
total
monetized
time
and
out-of-pocket
costs
for
taxpayers
filing
a
Form
1040
for
the
2025
tax
year
is
$91.79
billion.
Note
that
this
figure
doesn’t
include
actual
tax
liabilities,
“economic
inefficiencies
caused
by
sub-optimal
choices
related
to
tax
deductions
or
credits,”
or
the
“psychological
costs”
of
doing
your
taxes.