My federal tax return is pretty simple, so it only took me about 5 hours with TurboTax to do both my federal and state income taxes. It gets much more complicated for businesses, people owning rental properties, etc. Much of that $140 billion cost is what businesses pay to comply with a massive (and massively corrupt) tax code. Several years ago, I ran a small business as a sideline. It took a lot longer to prepare my taxes back then (and more expensive software) and I was just a 1 man operation. The IRS estimates that Americans spend 5 BILLION labor hours per year complying with the tax code. That's roughly the full time labor of 2.5 million people or over 0.8% of the total US population (set to cross 300 million later this year). That's an insane drain on the economy and a terribly inefficient way to raise revenue.

Of course, businesses do their best to pass those taxes on to their customers just as they pass on every other expense. Those who are quick to call for taxing the "evil" corporations seem to overlook the decrease in international competitiveness due to higher prices, then complain when prices rise.