April 15th marks the date all taxpayers have to file their taxes by. But what is the date on which American taxpayers will have earned enough to pay their sharbye ?Answer: April 9th.
At least that’s according to the Tax Foundation — a tax- and fiscal policy-monitoring non-profit. The organization calculates “Tax Freedom Day” by dividing the official government figure for total tax collections by the nation’s total income.
Then, it takes that percentage and applies it to the year — to determine the amount of time taxpayers spend working to pay this year’s tax responsibilities at the federal, state and local levels.
This year’s “Tax Freedom Day” is a day later than last year — because two taxes were repealed for 2010 and the recession reduced tax collection even more rapidly than it reduced income.
Note: The calculations don’t include the federal deficit — if it did, Tax Freedom Day would be on May 17.
The Tax Foundation expects future Tax Freedom Days to be pushed further and further back due to recent large-scale deficits.