Tax Freedom Day 2007

Each year The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit tax research organization, calculates the tax burden faced by Americans using Tax Freedom Day. This answers the question: What price is the nation paying for government. In theory, if all our earnings went first to taxes starting January 1 each year, Tax Freedom Day is the day on which we could start keeping some of our earnings. In 2007, Tax Freedom Day arrived two days later than in 2006. What's interesting is that the tax relief enacted in 2001 and 2003 moved Tax Freedom Day up 12 days earlier, to April 18).

Tax Freedom Day is calculated by dividing the official government tally of all taxes collected in a year by the official government tally of all income earned in the same year. It takes into account federal, state and local taxes. The Tax Foundation has been monitoring fiscal policy in our country since 1937.

It is distressing to realize that each year taxes are taking more and more out of the paychecks of working Americans. For example, in 1900, Tax Freedom Day came on January 22, with taxes accounting for just 5.9 percent of income. By 1950, Tax Freedom Day arrived on April 1, and taxes took up nearly 25 percent of income. In 2007, Tax Freedom Day arrived on April 30, with taxes taking at 32.6 percent, the highest percentage since 2000.

So, we worked 120 days just to pay our taxes. It took 79 days for federal taxes and 41 for state and local taxes. Here's how that works out for the various taxes we face:

• 43 days for individual income taxes (33 for federal; 10 for state)
• 30 days for social insurance taxes (29, federal; 1, state)
• 16 days for sales and excise taxes (3, federal; 13, state)
• 12 days for property taxes (0, federal; 12, state)
• 14 days for corporate income taxes (12, federal; 2, state)
• 5 days for other taxes (2, federal; 3, state)

And as for the other expenses that we incur each day:

• 62 days for housing and household options
• 52 days for health and medical care
• 30 days for food
• 309 days for transportation
• 22 days for recreation
• 13 days for clothing and accessories
• 36 days for other expenses

If you look at the report for state information, the State of Idaho carries one of the lighter tax burdens in the country, coming in at 41st. Tax Freedom Day for the state came on April 19, eleven days ahead of the national Tax Freedom Day and nearly a month ahead of Connecticut's Tax Freedom Day of May 20.