WASHINGTON -- The average taxpayer must work an extra day this year to pay off all his taxes, according to the Tax Foundation, a private research group.
That may help ruin the extra two days taxpayers have this year to file their tax returns. Because April 15 fell on Saturday, returns need not be mailed until Monday at midnight.The foundation says "Tax Freedom Day" is on May 3 this year, the 125th day of leap year 2000, or one day later than last year. That means the average American taxpayer would have to work full time from Jan. 1 to May 3 to pay off all federal, state and local taxes.
It said Tax Freedom Day for Utah is also on May 3 -- which is the 17th worst such date among the 50 states. The latest Tax Freedom Day among the states is May 18 in Connecticut. The earliest is April 23 in six states: Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
The foundation also figured out how many days the average American must work to pay off different types of taxes.
It said the taxpayer must work 41 days to pay federal personal income taxes and nine days to pay state and local personal income taxes. He or she must work 30 days to pay social insurance taxes; 13 days to pay state and local sales taxes; three days for federal excise and sales taxes; 10 days for state and local property taxes; 12 days to pay corporate income taxes; three days for other state and local business taxes; and two days for other taxes.
The foundation also said that Tax Freedom Day is now 13 days later than it was just eight years ago, in 1992, when it was on April 20.
"Not since the era of the Vietnam War and President Johnson's Great Society programs has Tax Freedom Day been postponed by so long in such a short span of years," the foundation said.
Scott Moody, author of the study for the foundation, said the steady rise in the percentage of income going to federal taxes comes because the tax system is structured so it tends to "fill government coffers faster than Americans' pocketbooks" during continued economic expansions.
The foundation also figured out the tax bite for the average eight-hour workday.
It said the average American will work two hours and 42 minutes of the workday to pay all taxes -- one hour and 52 minutes of that for federal taxes and 50 minutes for state and local taxes.
That is more than they work to pay for food, clothing and shelter -- combined.
The foundation said the average American works 44 minutes of the workday to pay for food and tobacco; 19 minutes to pay for clothing; and one hour and 19 minutes to pay for housing and household operations.
Also, the foundation said the average worker spends 55 minutes of the workday to pay for health care; 34 minutes to pay for transportation; 27 minutes to pay for recreation; 8 minutes for savings; and 51 minutes for all other expenses.