US 2007 Tax Freedom Day was 30 April

While the deadline for filing state and federal income taxes has come and gone, Americans theoretically won't have earned enough money to pay them until around the end of April, according to a Tax Foundation study.

The Foundation uses data from the federal government to determine how much money Americans earn each year and compares that amount to the nation's overall tax burden. Their results:

Americans will spend about 120 days working to pay their taxes, with April 30th being the nationally estimated date of completion.

Overall, taxes will claim about 32.7 per cent of the national income, a slight increase over 2006 when the percentage stood at 32.4 per cent.

Connecticut has the dubious distinction of having the heaviest tax burden of all, as residents of that state will not see Tax Freedom Day arrive until May 20.

"Americans will work longer to pay for government (120 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (105 days)," says Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge. "Since 1986 taxes have cost more than these basic necessities. In fact, Americans will work longer to afford federal taxes alone (79 days) than they will to afford housing (62 days)."

Some even say the study doesn't go far enough. According to those, determining a true tax burden would require knowing not just the amount of federal and state taxes paid, but also accounting for things like property taxes, sales taxes, phone and communication taxes, special district taxes, liquor and cigarette taxes, bridge tolls, and literally hundreds of other hidden taxes.

Source: Chad Morelli, Taxing times – Tax Freedom Day falls on April 30 this year, Suburban Journals, April 30, 2007.

For text: http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2007/04/20/news/sj2tn20070418-0418cvj_taxday.ii1.txt

For study: http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/

For more on Taxes: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=20

FMF Policy Bulletin/ 08-05-2007