As Americans scramble to meet the national deadline to pay their taxes this year, they’ll need to work through April 19th to pay next year’s bill.
Tax Freedom Day® is the day in which Americans have earned enough money to pay their full tax bill for they year. As a whole, Americans must work 44 days to pay their federal tax bill, 26 days for payroll taxes, 15 days for sales and excise taxes, another seven days to pay corporate income taxes, six days to pay estate, customs and other taxes, and 11 days to pay property taxes for a total of 109 days.
The Tax Foundation tallies all federal, state and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income to determine Tax Freedom Day. This year, Americans will spend more on taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined. In total, taxpayers will pay $5.2 trillion in taxes, or 30 percent of national income.
The Tax Foundation also tallies Tax Freedom Days for residents of each state, as the total tax burden varies from state to state due to different tax policies. Higher income and higher tax states have later Tax Freedom Days.
Kansans will celebrate Tax Freedom Day later than their peers in neighboring states. Already, Oklahomans have worked long enough to pay their taxes. The Sooner State’s celebration was April 3, or the third earliest in the nation. Missouri and Nebraska residents finished working to fund their tax burden by April 12, and Colorado residents celebrated their Tax Freedom Day on April 16. Kansans have worked long enough to pay their 2018 tax burden today, April 17.
This year’s national tax freedom day is three days earlier than in 2017, largely due to federal tax reforms. The latest Tax Freedom Day fell on May 1, 2000. That year, Americans paid 33 percent of their total income in taxes. Though the day is earlier this year compared to last, it’s still months later than the earliest Tax Freedom Day. In 1900, Americans had worked long enough to pay their taxes by January 22, and they paid only 5.9 percent of their incomes in taxes.
