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According to the latest estimates from the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Americans will spend almost 6.9 billion hours complying with IRS tax filing and reporting requirements in 2026. This is equal to 3.32 million full-time workers—more than the population of Chicago and nearly 35 times the workforce the IRS employed in FY 2025—doing nothing but tax return paperwork for a full year.

If we assume a reasonable hourly wage, the 6.9 billion hours Americans spend complying with the tax code cost the economy roughly $387 billion in lost productivity. In addition, the IRS estimates that Americans spend roughly $157 billion annually out-of-pocket to comply with the tax code. This brings total compliance costs to $544 billion, over 1.7 percent of GDP. (The Wall Street Journal)