Tax Freedom Day

It was famously written that, in life, only two things are certain - they are death and taxes.

Whilst it was written a fair time ago it is as true today as ever, and in most countries taxation is a heavy toll that you have to pay for living in the country that you do in order to pay for whatever the government of the day sees fit!

Some philosophers have compared this with a type of civilised slavery, whereby the governments have hoodwinked the docile and sheeplike electorate into thinking they are free and have power, when really they are slaves to the government for about half the year, depending on how much they earn.

The concept of Tax Freedom Day is to highlight just how much work you do each year not for yourself but for the government, and is the day when you finally start to earn money for yourself - before that date all money you earn during the year can be seen as going to the government, after that date, you are free to keep the money yourself!

In 2003, tax freedom day in the UK was on 2nd June. This meant that before that date, staggeringly, all money an average British taxpayer had earnt went straight to the government through taxation and an assortment of other deductions! This is quite a humbling thought.

This contrasts to a date that usually falls in early May in the USA, showing that the tax burden there is on average less, though it is complicated by the fact that tax burdens do vary noticeably from state to state.