OCPA 0 FaxLine Report
OCPA 0 FaxLine Report
a DubUc DOUCVinformation service for members of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. Inc.
Dear
OCPA Member:
Thursday, April 27, 2006
About the time most taxpayers are putting April 15 behind them, The Tax Foundation releases, tongue-in-cheek, "good news" that yesterday (April 26th) was Tax Freedom Day! This day is calculated by taking all American workers as a group and determining when we've earned enough to pay our federal, state and local taxes for the year. Guess what? Surprise, surprise, this date is three days later than 2005, and ten days later than 2004 and 2003. The only silver lining in this comparison is that it's not because of increasing taxes -- we've had significant federal tax cuts in each of the last five years. Rather it is because of the progressivity of the federal income tax. In other words, with the economy on the upswing, so is the growth in the overall tax burden. The unemployment rate in February was 4.8 percent, down from 5.4 percent a year earlier in February 2005, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It takes one hundred and sixteen days for Americans (on average) to payoff their tax burden, while it takes only 106 days to earn enough for food, clothing and housing. It takes just 52 days to payoff medical care, 30 days to payoff transportation and 22 days to pay for recreation. Other consumer expenditures amount to 39 days. There you have it. That's a summary of how the typical working American spends their 365 days a year. We pay more in taxes than food, clothing and housing combined. In other words, 31.7 percent of our total income goes to taxes! Adjusted per state, Oklahoma's Tax Freedom Day comes 12 days earlier on April 14, in part, because salaries are lower so more of our workers are in the lower federal tax brackets. Even so, it still amounts to nearly a third of a year of earnings! But as Tax Foundation analysts Curtis S. Dubay and Scott A. Hodge note, things could be worse. "Recently much attention has focused on the growing size of federal budget deficits. In fiscal year 2006 the deficit is projected to be $319 billion. If taxes were increased immediately to pay for this budget shortfall, Tax Freedom Day would experience a significant increase of 10 days from April 26 to May 6, which would set the record high Tax Freedom Day." Burdensome taxes will always be with us as long as government continues to fund things outside the scope of their constitutional authority. Wasting taxpayer money through pork barrel spending, like multi-million dollar bridges to nowhere, causes many parents struggling to buy new shoes for their kids to lose confidence in the greatest land of economic opportunity in the world. As Jean-Baptiste Colbert stated, "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing." Hiss, hiss, hiss. . . Until next time. . . Brett A. Magbee, Vice President for Finance and Operations If you know othel'$ who would
like to receive the OCPA FaxLine
Report
plea~e let U~ know by contacting
U~ ati
City, Oklahoma 73104 Council of Public Affairs, Inc., 1401 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma Tel: 405-602-1667 I Fax: 405-602-1238 I Website: www.ocpathink.org OCPA is a research and educational organization promoting public policies consistent with the principles of individual liberty. free enterprise and limited govemment. Contributions to OCPA are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Nothing written in an OCPA Faxline Report is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the membership of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Inc., or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before the Oklahoma House or Senate. United States Congress, or any other govemment body. Oklahoma
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a DubUc DOUCVinformation service for members of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. Inc.
Dear
OCPA Member:
Thursday, April 27, 2006
About the time most taxpayers are putting April 15 behind them, The Tax Foundation releases, tongue-in-cheek, "good news" that yesterday (April 26th) was Tax Freedom Day! This day is calculated by taking all American workers as a group and determining when we've earned enough to pay our federal, state and local taxes for the year. Guess what? Surprise, surprise, this date is three days later than 2005, and ten days later than 2004 and 2003. The only silver lining in this comparison is that it's not because of increasing taxes -- we've had significant federal tax cuts in each of the last five years. Rather it is because of the progressivity of the federal income tax. In other words, with the economy on the upswing, so is the growth in the overall tax burden. The unemployment rate in February was 4.8 percent, down from 5.4 percent a year earlier in February 2005, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It takes one hundred and sixteen days for Americans (on average) to payoff their tax burden, while it takes only 106 days to earn enough for food, clothing and housing. It takes just 52 days to payoff medical care, 30 days to payoff transportation and 22 days to pay for recreation. Other consumer expenditures amount to 39 days. There you have it. That's a summary of how the typical working American spends their 365 days a year. We pay more in taxes than food, clothing and housing combined. In other words, 31.7 percent of our total income goes to taxes! Adjusted per state, Oklahoma's Tax Freedom Day comes 12 days earlier on April 14, in part, because salaries are lower so more of our workers are in the lower federal tax brackets. Even so, it still amounts to nearly a third of a year of earnings! But as Tax Foundation analysts Curtis S. Dubay and Scott A. Hodge note, things could be worse. "Recently much attention has focused on the growing size of federal budget deficits. In fiscal year 2006 the deficit is projected to be $319 billion. If taxes were increased immediately to pay for this budget shortfall, Tax Freedom Day would experience a significant increase of 10 days from April 26 to May 6, which would set the record high Tax Freedom Day." Burdensome taxes will always be with us as long as government continues to fund things outside the scope of their constitutional authority. Wasting taxpayer money through pork barrel spending, like multi-million dollar bridges to nowhere, causes many parents struggling to buy new shoes for their kids to lose confidence in the greatest land of economic opportunity in the world. As Jean-Baptiste Colbert stated, "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing." Hiss, hiss, hiss. . . Until next time. . . Brett A. Magbee, Vice President for Finance and Operations If you know othel'$ who would
like to receive the OCPA FaxLine
Report
plea~e let U~ know by contacting
U~ ati
City, Oklahoma 73104 Council of Public Affairs, Inc., 1401 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma Tel: 405-602-1667 I Fax: 405-602-1238 I Website: www.ocpathink.org OCPA is a research and educational organization promoting public policies consistent with the principles of individual liberty. free enterprise and limited govemment. Contributions to OCPA are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Nothing written in an OCPA Faxline Report is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the membership of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Inc., or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before the Oklahoma House or Senate. United States Congress, or any other govemment body. Oklahoma
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