9. Einstein didn’t understand taxes
Albert Einstein, the theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, apparently found taxes more inscrutable than theoretical physics. As a matter of fact, he once said, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax” (that is, according Leo Mattersdorf, the math genius’ tax preparer).
10. Tax prep time really adds up
According to the Internal Revenue Service, the average time it used to take to complete a Form 1040 was 16 hours; a 1040A took 7 hours; and a 1040EZ took 5 hours. So, overall, the average was 13 hours. Last year, the IRS processed more than 154 million individual tax returns, equivalent to about 83.4 million days’ worth of prep time.
