“America Will Work Three Days Less to Pay Taxes in 2008 than in 2007; Stimulus Rebates Push Date of Celebration Up“
This is from the Tax Foundation. Those are the folks that calculate the date at which Americans have worked enough and earned enough to pay their individual tax bill for the year. This is of course all a ball-park average.
Based on the latest government income and tax data, Tax Freedom day for the year 2008 is on April 23rd. That means we Americans have been working 113 days (“ignoring Leap Day”) to pay our taxes this year.
“Tax Freedom Day® had arrived later for the four previous years, but due to an expected slowdown in the nation’s economy and a massive one-time fiscal stimulus tax cut passed earlier this year, Tax Freedom Day® is projected to arrive three days earlier this year compared to last year.”
That seems like a good thing, but here’s a depressing statistic:
“Americans will still spend more on taxes in 2008 than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.”
Even with recent inflation pushing the price of food ever upward. Next time you feel angry gassing up your car or buying a gallon of milk, think about your taxes! That ought to be enough to put you into full cardiac arrest.
Check out this graphic to see just how big a bite the average American tax bill is as a percentage of his income:
As you can see, Americans need to work 74 days to pay their federal taxes, and another 39 days to pay for state and local taxes. Housing is a whopping 60 days! Maybe if things cool down at work, and after I’ve worked all this stuff off, I might have time to figure out what my personal rate is. 
That may be easier said than done however. The ever changing flux of tax rates and income make the figures vary. In fact, the actual date of Tax Freedom Day has varied greatly during President Bush’s two terms alone:
“In 2000, Tax Freedom Day® was celebrated May 3, the latest date ever. Then a string of tax cuts between 2001 and 2003 pushed Tax Freedom Day® up by more than two weeks, so that it fell on April 16 in 2003 and April 17 in 2004. For the next three years, incomes and tax collections soared, pushing Tax Freedom Day® back to April 26 in 2007. Now the stimulus rebates and a projected slowing of income growth have made Tax Freedom Day® come three days earlier, on April 23.”
It seems like a constant give-and-take in action. Some no doubt would say it’s more like a take-and-take, and they would have a strong argument when you consider that in 1900, Tax Freedom Day fell on January 22 and taxes were an average of 5.9% of personal income. Compare this with 2008 where Tax Freedom Day falls on April 23rd and taxes are an average 30.8% of income!
How Does Your State Rate?
All of the above is an average of the national data. Here’s a graphic that details where each individual state falls into Tax Freedom Day:
“Alaskans kick off the celebration of Tax Freedom Day® on March 29, more than a week before any other state’s taxpayers. Mississippi (April 7), Montana and West Virginia (April 8), and Alabama (April 9) round out the first five. The next five are Kentucky (April 10), Tennessee and Oklahoma (April 11), and New Mexico and South Dakota (April 12).”
You lucky Alaskans!
“Three states will have to wait until May to celebrate their state-specific Tax Freedom Days: Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.”
Go New York!
Well, it’s no surprise to us New Yorkers to see that we live in one of the latest Tax Free states. I wonder if more people knew this and really thought about what it means if we’d elect more responsible politicians… but that may be asking too much.
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