Tax administrative cost reduction is an economically and socially desirable goal for public policy. This article proposes total administrative cost as percentage of total tax revenue as a vivid measurand, also useful for cross-jurisdiction comparisons. Statistical data, surveys and a novel approach demonstrate: Germany's 2021 tax administrative costs likely exceeded 20% of total tax revenue, indicating need for improvement of Germany's taxation system - and for the many jurisdictions with similar tax regimes. In addition, this article outlines possible reasons for and implications of the seemingly high tax administrative burden as well as solutions.

翻译：降低税收行政成本是公共政策在经济和社会层面所追求的目标。本文提出以总行政成本占税收总收入的比例作为一个直观的测量指标，该指标亦适用于跨司法管辖区的比较。统计数据、调查以及一种新颖方法表明：德国2021年的税收行政成本很可能超过了税收总收入的20%，这表明德国的税收体系——以及许多具有类似税收制度的司法管辖区——存在改进的必要。此外，本文概述了看似较高的税收行政负担的可能原因、影响以及解决方案。