Americans average 35 hours a year filling out government forms

The federal government interacts with citizens by means of about 23,000 separate forms, finds an analysis of Washington's paperwork situation by the American Action Forum. And while you might guess that the worst offender is the Treasury Department, home of the IRS, the Department of Health and Human Services actually takes the lead, deploying more than 5,000 forms.

But perhaps more intriguing is second-place form issuer, the Department of Agriculture, which has more than 3,700 forms serving such diverse needs as "nominations to the 'Vidalia Onion Committee,' nominations to the 'Hazelnut Marketing Board,' a report of inventory for 'High Moisture Content Prunes,' and an application to ship Florida tomatoes for relief or charity." The Ag Department's forms proliferate as it differentiates between every type of produce.

All told, these forms consume about 11.4 billion hours of paperwork annually, which averages out to 35 hours per U.S. citizen.