Filing fee.How is a mugger mugger: see crocodile. different from the Internal Revenue Service? Both take your money, but the mugger doesn't does·n't Contraction of does not. make you fill out forms. Every year the Tax Foundation calculates the cost of this added indignity in·dig·ni·ty n. pl. in·dig·ni·ties 1. Humiliating, degrading, or abusive treatment. 2. A source of offense, as to a person's pride or sense of dignity; an affront. 3. . Since it's hard to put a dollar figure on annoyance and anxiety, the D.C.-based think tank sticks to estimating the time involved in keeping records and completing returns: some 6 billion hours in 2005. It multiplies these hours by the average hourly compensation for professional tax preparers or, for the share of taxpayers who file their own returns, the average hourly compensation for U.S. workers. The resulting figure represents the cost of complying with the federal income tax, which the Tax Foundation projects will be $279 billion this year. That amounts to 22 cents for every dollar collected, about the same as in 2005 but up from 14 cents in 1990. The compliance burden does not include the costs associated with litigating tax disputes, with operating the IRS An abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing internal revenue laws. and the U.S. Tax Court, or with tax planning Tax planning Devising strategies throughout the year in order to minimize tax liability, for example, by choosing a tax filing status that is most beneficial to the taxpayer. aimed at minimizing liability. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] |
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