According to the Tax Foundation’s annual calculations, Tax Freedom Day will arrive on Apr. 18, the 108th day of 2013. This means that American workers will have to hit the concrete jungle for more than three and a half months of the year to earn enough money to pay this year’s taxes at the federal, state and local levels. Due to higher tax rates and a small jump in incomes in this tough economy, the annual date takes place five days later than in 2012.
Economists William McBridge, Elizabeth Malm and Kyle Pomerleau published the conservative-leaning research organization’s Tax Freedom Day 2013 study. The new report also looks at how much workers in the United States have to work in order to pay for the federal government’s spending in the present fiscal year: $833 billion in taxes and extending Tax Freedom Day to May 9.
Of course, each state, depending on their state tax policies, celebrates Tax Freedom Day on different dates. For instance, Connecticut will celebrate the day on May 13, while the state of New York commemorates on May 6 and New Jersey marks May 4 as Tax Freedom Day. Meanwhile, Louisiana and Mississippi, which have some of the lowest tax burdens, have already welcomed Tax Freedom Day on Mar. 29, while Tennessee had it this past Tuesday.
“This year, Americans will work five days later than in 2012 to pay all of their taxes. The total tax bill at all levels comes to approximately $4.2 trillion, or 29.4 percent of their total income,” said McBride in a press release. “That means Americans will pay more in taxes in 2013 than they will spend on food, clothing, and housing combined.”
After Obama’s first year in office, the figure was at 26.6 percent. Thisarticle explains what the U.S. taxpayers receive when the federal government takes close to one-third of your income.
There are five primary categories of taxes
- 40 days: individual income taxes (federal, state and local)
- 24 days: payroll taxes
- 15 days: sales and excise taxes
- 12 days: property taxes
- Nine days: corporate income taxes
Tax Freedom Day usually fluctuates from year to year. The organization explained that Tax Freedom Day fell on May 1, 2000 – Americans paid one-third of their incomes to the government. In 1900, Tax Freedom Day arrived on Jan. 22 because Americans paid only 5.9 percent of their incomes in taxes.
(The study did not include the Federal Reserve’s inflationary practices 365 days of the year.)
Last year, then-Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul issued a statement in which he stated that his ultimate goal in life was to end the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and abolish the “tyranny” of the Internal Revenue Service.
“Knowing that every penny the average American has earned from January 1st until today has gone to pay federal, state, or local taxes is a frightening reminder of how much liberty modern Americans have lost,” stated the three-time presidential candidate and bestselling author. “Unfortunately, even after Tax Freedom Day, Americans will still suffer from the Federal Reserve’s regressive and hidden inflation tax, which erodes their purchasing power for the benefit of big banks and big-spending politicians.”
Similar studies have been conducted elsewhere around the world. Last year, the Fraser Institute, a conservative think-tank located in Canada, concluded that the average Canadian family, whose income was $74,233, paid 42 percent of their income in taxes.