Working Hard for Tax Freedom Day
Get ready to celebrate—just 12 short days from now, you start working for yourself again.That's because you'll have earned enough money - on average - to pay all your federal, state and local taxes for 2011, that's according to The Tax Foundation.That's the good news.The bad news is that it took you 102 days - or more than three months - to earn enough to pay your tax bill. What's more, Tax Freedom Day is coming three days later than last year.Blame higher incomes for the fact that you will be working longer to pay Uncle Sam.Oh, and also the fact there are some new taxes coming into play, including the federal estate tax and taxes from health care reform.Now, the details differ from state-to-state because of the various local tax levies and income levels. For example, the people who live in Connecticut have the biggest tax burden - their Tax Freedom Day falls on May 2 - nearly halfway into the year!Other high-tax, high-income states include New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Washington. They are all on the top five list again because of their tax rates and the level of incomes.Folks in Mississippi get to celebrate Tax Freedom Day the earliest - March 26, followed by Tennessee, South Carolina, Louisiana and South Dakota.And, this isn't even worst.The longest period Americans have ever worked for the tax man - 121 days back in 2000 - incomes then were high due to a booming economy - and the Bush-era tax cuts had not yet kicked in.
According to The Tax Foundation, if the government collected enough taxes to finance all of its spending, Americans would have to work 143 days - until May 23 - to pay the Tax Man.These numbers should be a wakeup call to people in Washington.Americans shouldn't be working to pay for the country's bad spending choices. We need to pay for our families and our futures.Think of that when you're debating whether or not to cut in D.C.
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