Did you know that in 1913 the federal tax code was only 400 pages? In comparison, today it is over 70,000 pages. Investing Answers has put together a list of surprising facts about the IRS and the American tax system. You can find a few of their facts below, or the full list here.
According to one count, there are over 3.7 words in the tax code.
Since the beginning of 2001, there have been over 3,250 changes to the tax code -- an average of more than one a day. More than 500 changes were made in 2008 alone.
The IRS sends out an average of eight billion pieces of paper every tax season. If each sheet were laid out end-to-end, it would wrap around the earth 28 times.
In order for the IRS to print all that paper, over 300,000 trees are cut down every year. (Just one more reason to consider filing online.)
Tax Day is... April 18th? The date when tax returns must be filed with the IRS usually lands on April 15th. However, if the 15th is a weekend or holiday, Tax Day is moved to the next business day. In 2011, Emancipation Day is being held in Washington, D.C. on Friday, April 15, so Tax Day is bumped to the following Monday.
Every year, U.S. taxpayers and businesses spend roughly 7.6 billion hours preparing their taxes.