The Tax Foundation recently released the 2016 Tax Freedom Day report! Tax Freedom Day is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough to pay the federal, state, and local tax bill for year. This helps contextualize just how much tax revenue our governments collect, so that we can have an honest discussion about the proper level of taxation.
This year, Tax Freedom Day arrives 114 days into the year on April 24, or nine days after the tax filing deadline.
In 2016, Americans will pay $3.3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.6 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total bill of almost $5.0 trillion, or 31 percent of the nation’s income. This means that collectively, America will spend more on taxes than it will on food, clothing, and housing combined.
To find out why Tax Freedom Day comes so late in the year, how the date has changed over the past century, and when each state arrives at Tax Freedom Day, be sure to check out the full report.
