A 2012 IRS study found that the difference between what was legally due in federal taxes and what was actually paid amounted to a "tax gap" of $385 billion. Per the IRS's Taxpayer Advocate, this is an effective tax on most taxpayers "to subsidize noncompliance by others." Adjusted for inflation into 2012 dollars, the 2006 tax gap was an average of $3,846 for every household in the U.S