tax freedom day Archives | Restoring Liberty

photo credit: osipovva

As TheBlaze reported on Friday, President Barack Obama and wife Michelle paid 18 percent in taxes for 2012. That 18 percent tax rate means the Obamas worked just more than 64 days in order to earn the money they needed to pay the government their “fair share.”

The top tax rate charged by the federal government for high earners like the Obamas would be 35 percent. If the president and his wife paid the 35 percent rate, they would have had to work until May 8 (128 days) in order to meet their obligation to the nation.

But is 18 percent really a fair share for the first family? Let’s remember the 2012 presidential campaign that regularly featured many media outlets slamming Mitt Romney for paying around 15 percent in taxes in 2011.

It also should be noted that today, the average American has to work until April 18 in order to pay their tax obligations to the nation. (And according to one online report, April 18 is a full five days longer than last year’s Tax Freedom Day.) By the way, from January 1 to April 18 is 108 days.

Read more from this story HERE.

This year, Americans have to work until July 15 to pay for the burden of government, more than six months.

In a new report, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) has calculated that Americans will spend a total of 197 days toiling to pay for the cost of government.

“Cost of Government Day is the date of the calendar year on which the average American worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burden imposed by government at the federal, state and local levels,” reads the report.

The report, Cost of Government Day, shows that Americans will work 88 days to pay for federal spending; 40 days for state and local spending; and 69 days for total regulatory costs.

“From a different perspective, the cost of government makes up 54.0 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP),” reads the report. “What’s more, the largest tax hike in the nation’s history is scheduled to take place at the end of 2012 unless Congress acts to protect taxpayers. If this tax increase is allowed to hit, COGD [Cost of Government Day] could permanently be pushed back into August and beyond.”

Posts

Obama’s ‘Tax Freedom Day’ Was March 5…the Average American’s Isn’t Until April 18

Another Obama first: Americans now toil over half the year to pay for unconstitutional government