Federal regulatory burdens can operate as a hidden tax. Unlike on-budget spending, regulatory costs are largely hidden from public view. This can make regulation overly attractive to lawmakers. For example, a new government job-training initiative could involve either increased government spending or new regulations that require businesses to provide such training. Just as firms generally […]
Based on federal government data, past reports, and contemporary studies, this report highlights regulatory compliance and economic impacts of federal intervention of $1.9 trillion annually. . . . If it were a country, U.S. regulation would be the world’s seventh-largest economy, ranking behind India and ahead of Italy.
If one assumed that all costs of federal regulation and intervention flowed all the way down to households, U.S. households would “pay” $14,809 annually on average in a regulatory hidden tax. That amounts to 21 percent of the average income of $69,629 and 26.45 percent of the expenditure budget of $55,978. The “tax” exceeds every item in the budget except housing.