What’s your Tax Freedom Day?

Tax Freedom Day is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. A vivid, calendar-based illustration of the cost of government, Tax Freedom Day divides all federal, state, and local taxes by the nation’s income.

In 2014, Americans will pay $3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state taxes, for a total tax bill of $4.5 trillion, or 30.2 percent of income. This year, Tax Freedom Day falls on April 21, or 111 days into the year.

In Illinois, we are ranked at #7 nationally with a Tax Freedom Day of April 28th.

My family’s Tax Freedom Day is in mid-May.  Now you know why I take full advantage of every legal means possible to generate income that is tax-free for clients and my self.

The latest ever Tax Freedom Day was May 1, 2000, meaning Americans paid 33 percent of their total income in taxes. A century earlier, in 1900, Americans paid only 5.9 percent of their income in taxes, meaning Tax Freedom Day came on January 22.

The federal government will consume 20.5 percent of America’s total income this year.

This figure has generally been climbing for years and despite the current President’s pledge in 2008: “I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital-gains taxes, not any of your taxes,” said Mr. Obama in September 2008.

But 16 days into his presidency, Mr. Obama signed his first tax hike on tobacco users, a group of Americans whose income averages $40,000.

Then came the Obamacare 20 taxes to pay for our “free” health care. They will total well over $1 trillion during the next decade. At least seven of those taxes directly hit Americans making less than $250,000. Those taxes fall on Americans with Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts, those with insurance already, and those visiting charitable hospitals. What’s even more bizarre is that Obamacare taxes those who get really sick and have health care costs more than 10 percent of their adjusted gross income, an income-tax hike that will hit 10 million American families.

The laws to increase taxes and the size and scope of government come from both parties at both a local and federal level.  If you would like to keep more of your hard earned money going forward then I suggest you take full advantage of your right to vote. Vote for the person that is most likely to want less government intervention in our lives and therefore, is less likely to demand more tax money from you.

Two source article links for these facts and a whole lot more about this topic: