Tax Day

Next Tuesday, April 15, is tax day. Millions of Americans will spend the days before the deadline dealing with the stress and frustration that has become our current tax code. April 21 is Tax Freedom Day – the point in the year when Americans have earned enough money to pay their tax bill for the year and can finally start earning money they get to keep.

The Tax Code Needlessly Complicates Americans’ Lives

The IRS estimates that it takes 13 hours for the average taxpayer to file their taxes, including record keeping, planning, as well as filling out the forms. Last year the National Taxpayer Advocate estimated that Americans spend 6.1 billion hours and $168 billion complying with all the requirements necessary to file taxes. The tax code and related rules and regulations total more than 73,000 pages. When the income tax was created in 1913, it was 400 pages.

Days to Pay Off Types of Taxes

Source: The Tax Foundation

According to the Tax Foundation, Americans must work 111 days this year to pay their federal, state and local taxes. The group says that Americans will pay $3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state and local taxes this year.