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News & Views ARCHIVE,
04/25/08...Tax Freedom Day
For most of us, Wednesday April 23rd, the 113th day of the year, went quietly by without much fanfare. But what it meant for many working Americans was that they had worked for almost four months of this year just to earn enough to pay their taxes to the federal, state and local governments.
In a Special Report, Gerald Prante, Senior Economist, at the Tax Foundation, and Scott Hodge, President of the Tax Foundation, noted that Americans work a significant number of days each year to pay for things other than government, but that nothing else is so expensive. Americans will work longer to pay for government, this year 113 days, than they will for food, clothing and housing combined, which is 108 days. In fact, Americans will work longer to afford federal taxes alone, 74 days, than they will to afford housing, which takes 60 days. And people work for 39 days to pay for state and local taxes while working 35 days to pay for food.
Tax Freedom Day varies from state to state because residents of different states pay different amounts in state and local taxes. For example, Alaska residents will have the lowest average tax burden in 2008, due to low state and local taxes and more modest incomes. The report estimated their Tax Freedom Day was March 29th. Residents in Connecticut will celebrate their Tax Freedom Day on May 8th, because their per capita income is higher than any other state, so their residents pay higher federal income taxes. Next year when they are calculating the number of days we have to work to pay our taxes and to pay for food and housing, they should compute how many days we have to work to pay for gasoline to fuel our cars to get to work so we can pay our taxes. Oh, in case you wondering, Tax Freedom Day for those of us in the Buckeye State was April 17th.
For all of you who volunteer your time and talents this week, April 27th through May 3rd is National Volunteer Week. This week was created in 1974 when President Richard Nixon established the week as an annual celebration of volunteering. Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with many groups and organizations and with many of the wonderful volunteers who work on behalf of these great organizations. Without the generous contribution of time these volunteers so willingly give to these organizations, they would just not exist and would not be able to provide the services to our communities and our residents. Volunteers truly make a difference from assisting all ages, and all walks. Volunteers are always needed. If you have a group you feel passionate about and would like to volunteer your time to help them in their mission, take the time take the step up and "Volunteer to Change the World."