So 10,000 Taxpayers Can Vent

The Internal Revenue Service, which probably has direct contact with more American households than any other agency, wants your help in reducing paperwork.

As announced in the Federal Register last week, the tax service is preparing to survey 10,000 taxpayers and other federal agencies on how best to ease the burden of complying with tax law and regulations -- both in terms of time spent and out-of-pocket expenses.

Such comment opportunities are required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, and respondents have until Oct. 11 to weigh in on whether such a survey is worthwhile, clear and practical in informing policy as well as whether the survey itself is burdensome.

The notice kindly estimates how long it should take taxpayers to complete the survey: about 19 minutes.