Forget April 15th (everyone in the Obama Administration does) and be thankful that today is the day that you’re finally making money.
Each year, The Tax Foundation calculates by which day the average American has earned enough to pay her federal, state & local tax bills for the year. Last year it took us 8 more days to pay the bill and in 2007 we had to work an additional 14 days before breaking even.
Why the earlier date this year? 2008 included 2 rounds of stimulus checks as well as tax cuts that will expire next year.
Of course, 2009 includes federal spending at unprecedented levels so brace yourself. The bill for those comes due next year, which is why the next Tax Freedom Day will be May 29th, 2010.
The only other time Tax Freedom Day occurred that late in the year, we were defending the civilized world in a 2-front war.
If you’re unfortunate enough to live in a highly taxed state, don’t celebrate yet. You may still have a balance due.
The 5 highest-taxed states:
Connecticut
New Jersey
New York
California
Maryland
The 5 lowest-taxed states:
Alaska
Louisiana
Mississippi
S. Dakota
W. Virginia
Check out TaxFoundation.org to see how when your bill will be marked “paid in full.”
Leave a comment