To most Americans, 37 hours is practically a workweek. To the Internal Revenue Service, it is the amount of time it takes a taxpayer to prepare the basic short form.

It’s no wonder. According to the Tax Foundation, as of 2005, the Internal Revenue Code contained more than two million words — a nearly 20-percent increase since 1995.

To help taxpayers navigate a tax code that is 470 times the number of words in the U.S. Constitution, the IRS issues more than 200 tax forms and puts out more than 1,000 publications, forms and instructions. These are all conveniently alphabetized on the IRS website — from the 1040 Short Form to the 5304-SIMPLE. Not to be confused, of course, with the 5305-SIMPLE, the 5205-SA, the 5305-S, or the 5306-A. Simple enough?

If not, taxpayers can refer to the frequently asked questions section of the IRS website, which is organized into 17 categories, which are further subcategorized for easy reference.

Today’s tax system is anything but simple. But it is not just complex and frustrating, it is costly. Individuals spent $29 billion a year for tax software, tax preparation services, postage and other out-of-pocket costs related to filing their federal income tax.

Not only is our current tax collection system expensive for individuals to comply with, it is expensive for our government to run — $12.7 billion this year to be exact. In January of last year, the IRS employed 92,690 people — more than the combined number of employees at the Departments of State, Labor, Energy, Housing & Urban Development and Education.

This year, the average American will work the first 103 days of the year to pay their federal, state, and local taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. April 13 marked “Tax Freedom Day,” the day on which the average American will start working for anything besides taxes. Comparatively, in 1910, when taxes were just 5 percent of a person’s income, Tax Freedom Day fell on Jan. 19.

Additionally, the National Taxpayers Union reports that 32.6 percent of all tax returns are non-paying returns. In addition to the non-payers, roughly 15 million individuals and families earned some income last year, but not enough to be required to file a tax return. Adding the non-paying returns to the non-filers gives you roughly 57.5 million income-earners who will be paying no income taxes.

Even 57.5 million is not the actual number of people in our nation that don’t pay federal income taxes because one tax return often represents several people. When all of the dependents of these income-producing people are counted, roughly 120 million Americans – 40 percent of the U.S. population – do not pay federal income taxes.

America needs a new tax code – one that is simple and equitable. I support an optional one-page flat tax as outlined in H.R. 1040, which would allow businesses and individuals to opt for a flat tax rate of 19 percent. The rate would decline to 17 percent after two years of participation. This simple form would take less than 30 minutes to complete, saving American individuals and businesses billions in tax preparation costs.

For the many families in the 25-percent tax bracket or higher, this plan will take money out of the hands of those in Washington and back into the hands of the people who earned it. As one of only 17 members of Congress to vote against each of the spending bailouts over the last two years, I believe we cannot act soon enough to put a freeze on the amount of money Washington spends.