Wisconsinites have to Work 112 Days to Pay Taxes for the Year
MacIver News Service | April 15, 2014
[Madison, Wisc…] Almost every single American, and hopefully every taxpayer, knows that April 15th is the filing deadline for federal and state taxes. But, what many people might not know is that it will take 111 days this year for Americans to generate enough income to pay their taxes for the year.
The Tax Foundation released its annual Tax Freedom Day report last week and said April 21st is “the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for year.” The day is three days later than it was in 2013. Kyle Pomerleau and Lyman Stone, authors of the report, claim the country’s slow economic recovery is to blame.
Americans will pay $4.5 trillion in taxes in 2014, up from $4.2 trillion in 2013. Federal taxes will account for $3 trillion and state taxes will account for the other $1.5 trillion.
“Tax Freedom Day is a vivid, calendar-based illustration of the cost of government,” Pomerleau told the MacIver Institute. “The combined $4.5 trillion tax bill is more than Americans will spend on food, clothing, and housing combined.”
Wisconsin’s Tax Freedom Day is two days later than it was in 2013 and falls on April 22nd, 112 days into the calendar year. While the date is later, the Badger State improved in the rankings, moving from 9th latest state in 2013 to 13th latest this year.
It may come as a surprise that Wisconsin’s Tax Freedom Day is two days later after more than a billion dollars in income and property tax cuts within the last year. However, the decreased tax burden under Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican legislature only counts for one-third of the formula in determining the state’s Tax Freedom Day. The federal tax burden, which has increased, accounts for the other two-thirds.
According to the authors, states with higher incomes also have later dates because they tend to pay more in taxes.
Connecticut and New Jersey, states with the highest tax burdens, tied for the latest Tax Freedom Day on May 9th. Louisiana claimed the lowest tax burden for 2014 with the earliest Tax Freedom Day on March 30th. Mississippi and South Dakota followed close behind on April 2nd and April 4th, respectively.