Despite the passage of the Paperwork Reduction Act, which requires the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report to Congress on the paperwork burden imposed on the public, the feds are allowing the overall burden to grow, forcing more individuals and businesses to submit paperwork.

The OMB's latest report, Information Collection Budget, FY 2007, reports the burden increased from 8.24 billion hours in fiscal '05 to 8.92 billion hours in fiscal '06, a rise of more than 8 percent.

The biggest culprit: the Internal Revenue Service, which accounts for approximately 78 percent of the total federal information collection burden, according to OMB.

Another culprit: the complicated Medicaid prescription drug program, which added approximately 10 hours of government red tape for every person enrolled in a Medicare drug plan, according to a 2006 report issued by Congress.

The same report, Government Paperwork Burdens Have Increased Substantially Under the Bush Administration, claimed the average adult in the United States spent 39 hours in 2006 completing government paperwork.