Happy Tax Day!
By way of World Net Daily, comes this article by W. James Antle III in the American Spectator.
Despite several major federal tax cuts since 2001, Washington still helps itself to a very large slice of the national income. The average family devotes a higher percentage of its income to taxes than food, clothing, medical care or shelter. And I do mean "average," not members of the much-maligned richest 1 percent -- factoring in payroll taxes, a family of four earning $50,000 surrenders nearly a third of that income to the feds.Did you get your taxes filed on time? Did you pay more taxes this year than you did last year?
Yet we docilely pay. As the American Enterprise Institute's Kevin Hassett pointed out in Sunday's Washington Post, the levies that provoked our ancestors' historic tax revolts against the British were pathetically small by today's standards. The tax take that helped bring about the Boston Tea Party and the Declaration of Independence was about 2 percent.
[emphasis mine]
No, Mr. Light Bulb, I'm getting money back, so I didn't pay any taxes.
Yes, I've actually had people say that to me. Apparently, these people don't understand that they are getting back only the amount that they over-paid to the IRS. They don't seem to understand that they still yielded to the IRS their Total Tax (line 63 on the 1040 long form). And I'm not even considering Social Security and Medicaid taxes.
Here's an exercise to do this weekend. Find your 2006 Total Income (line 22 on the 1040 long form). Then look on line 63 of the 1040 long form (or whatever line is labeled Total Tax on the other 1040 variations) for your Total Tax. Now divide your Total Tax by your Total Income. The result is the percentage of your income you paid as income tax.
Question: how does it compare to 2 percent?
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2 comments:
"The levies that provoked our ancestors' historic tax revolts against the British were pathetically small by today's standards"
I thought the revolt was based on taxation without representation. The Tea Act might have imposed a 2% tax on tea, but the total tax that the average colonist paid was much higher. So to answer your question, it does not compare, nor should it. Oh, one more thing. I did pay more taxes for 2006 than I did for 2005. I also earned more in 2006.
VedaBaugh
Dearest Veda,
Some corrections. Did you read the Washington Post article? Indeed, taxation without representation was a guiding cause. The TOTAL tax percentage during colonial times was 2 percent. And that 2 percent was enough to start a war.
Also, you paid more taxes in 2006 and you earned more in 2006. Understood. But what was your tax percentage for 2006 and for 2005?
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