The Patriot Post® · Americans Have to Work 114 Days Just to Pay Taxes

Most people don’t know how big a bite taxes take out of their paycheck. According to the Tax Foundation, Tax Freedom Day will arrive on April 24 this year. That’s just about the same amount of time Americans had to work last year in order to fill the government maw. Tax Freedom Day marks when the whole nation has worked long enough to pay off all federal, state and local taxes — 114 days for a collective 31% tax rate. After that, the fruits of our labor are ours to keep. And statists think they’re being generous to “give” you that much.

The visualization, the Tax Foundation says, is to help Americans understand the true cost of taxes so they can have an informed discussion about “what we pay for a civilized society,” as the inscription on the IRS building in Washington reads. However, these taxes are used for such things as funding for Planned Parenthood and barrels of pork spending, all while the agency collecting those taxes is targeting nonprofit conservative groups for scrutiny. Government on all levels takes in about $5 trillion in taxes. That’s more than Americans are expected to collectively spend on housing, food and clothing combined this year.

Of course, state taxes are a factor here, and each state celebrates different Tax Freedom Days depending on how far the state is dipping into its residents’ pockets. Mississippi residents were free of their tax burden on April 5. Meanwhile, workers in Connecticut will be toiling for their state coffers until May 21. See where your state stacks up on the infographic below.