Tax confusion

[dawgball]

Warning: This is not a well thought out post.

With the varying levels of taxes on corporations, profits, individual earnings, investments, and purchases it is damn near impossible for the public to really know how much our government costs us to run.

NOTE: Please do not make this a rant/rave that is politically motivated such as Bush's war, etc.

It really would be nice if our taxes were straight forward just for the simple fact of knowing how much of our lives goes directly towards keeping our government satisfied.

My guess is that when everything is taken into consideration the amount of every dollar spent that goes to the government is more than 60%. This would include corporate taxes that are included in the price of goods/services, then the amount of tax that we pay in income taxes both federal and state, then the sales tax that is paid upon most every purchase.

Is there a number like this that you guys know about?

 

[UGA12]

Would like to see a number as well Dawg. Flat tax plus luxury tax is where we need to go imo. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

[Tapir Caper]

I don't know if this is precisely what you're looking for, but it's not too far off.

Tax Freedom Day will fall on April 23 in 2008, according to the Tax Foundation's annual calculation using the latest government data on income and taxes.

...

?Government continues to dominate the American taxpayer?s budget,? said Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge. ?Americans will still spend more on taxes in 2008 than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.?

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/

 

[dawgball]

Thanks, Tapir, but I think that is only for income tax if I'm not mistaken.

Seeing this a while back (I have a friend who celebrates this day every year) got me thinking about just how confusing it is. If we work through April just to pay our income taxes off, then we have to add the amount of taxes we have to pay to spend what is left.

So tack on a few weeks for federal sales tax, a few days for state sales tax, a few months for all corporate taxes then WHALA!

My guesstimation is August 1. From then on out, we are government-free in our spending.

ADDED NOTE: I am not against taxes. I just wish they were very clear cut so we knew a rough estimation of what our government costs us to "run".

 

[Tapir Caper]

My question is how are things like the $30 billion turned over to Bear Stearns accounted for. Inflation is caused by the Fed, and inflation is a tax, no matter it is undeclared and hidden.

August 1 sounds about right to me. I would be very surprised if working Americans spend less than half their time slaving for the government. Changing the name doesn't change the thing. Slavery is outlawed - and very much alive.

 

[Tapir Caper]

The study at link above does actually include more than income taxes:

Which Taxes Are Biggest?

Five major categories of tax dominate the tax burden. Individual income taxes, both federal and state, require 42 days? work. Payroll taxes take another 28 days? work. Sales and excise taxes, mostly state and local, take 16 days to pay off. Corporate income taxes take 13 days, and property taxes take 12.

 

[dawgball]

To follow up on this conversation, here is a post from one of my favorite bloggers.

http://forum.belmont.edu/cornwall/archives/009857.html