Study: Tax compliance costs top $230B

U.S. taxpayers spent roughly $233.8 billion in 2014 complying with the tax code, according to a new study, a figure larger than the economy of Ireland, Portugal or Pakistan.

The national taxpayer advocate, an in-house IRS watchdog, has estimated that taxpayers spend some 6.1 billion hours a year on tax compliance. 

{mosads}The National Taxpayers Union, the conservative group that conducted the new study, used those figures to reach its $233.8 billion figure on compliance costs. Taxpayers face an April 15 filing deadline this year.

The group estimates that taxpayers spent around $31.7 billion to buy software or other tools for complying with the code. 

The NTU also estimated that the labor costs for taxpayers was around $202.1 billion, using a federal estimate that found that employers paid $33.13 an hour in total compensation costs for civilian workers.

The 6.1 million hours spent on taxes is the equivalent, the NTU said, of almost 60,000 people working 40 hours a week from the ages of 18 to 67, when they hit full Social Security retirement age.