Tuesday, April 17, 2012

We have some way to go

The Adam Smith Institute reminds us that today is Tax Freedom Day in America. Of course, in some states (the more successful ones) that day came a little earlier in the year and I am not convinced it has yet hit New York or California. The ASI says:
Today, average Americans, who have been working every day for the sole benefit of the tax authorities, can finally have a beer and rejoice that, for the rest of the year they are working for themselves. It means Americans have to work 107 days of the year to earn enough money to pay this year's federal, state and local taxes.
Well, lucky Americans. For we have a way to go before we can start working for ourselves.
Tax Freedom Day in the Britain, calculated annually by the Adam Smith Institute, does not come round for another six weeks – not until the 29th of May, to be precise. That means the average person in the UK will spend 149 days this year working for Chancellor George Osborne's tax gatherers. Including the extra Leap Year day, that is two whole days more slave labour than last year, when Tax Freedom Day fell on the 28th of May. (According to the Treasury's adjusted figures.)
We also have a government that believes that the money we earn rightly belongs to them and anything we keep is a sign of their generosity. So, I suppose, we should be grateful that we have a Tax Freedom Day at all.

2 comments:

  1. In the 1980s, TFD in the UK was often in the second week of June.

    (If one believes that the Commission makes three quarters of our laws, then "EU Freedom Day" – the day after which Westminster debates only homegrown legislation – is October 1.)

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  2. Nice idea though it is sometimes hard to differentiate between EU and home grown, which is the genius of the system.

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