[Jonathan Adler, April 30, 2007 at 10:53am] Trackbacks
Happy Tax Freedom Day -- If Today Is the Day:

According to the Tax Foundation, today is "Tax Freedom Day." This means, according to the Tax Foundation, that the average American worked from January 1 until today in order to earn enough just to pay for federal, state and local taxes. For the rest of the year, the average taxpayer is earning money for herself.

For more on "Tax Freedom Day," including links to essays debating the Tax Foundation's methodology, see this TaxProfBlog post.

UPDATE: Julian Sanchez has a long explanation about why calling today "Tax Freedom Day" is misleading (even if one doesn't mischaracterize it the way I apparently did).

Lively:
A little OT, but ironic:

Ex-IRS Director Guilty of Tax Fraud
By Dan Margolies


April 30, 2007 (The Kansas City Star, Mo.) — A former IRS district director pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding the agency in connection with a tax scam....$1.3 Million.
4.30.2007 12:14pm
badger (mail):
When does Crippling Heroin Addiction Freedom day start?
4.30.2007 1:11pm
Alan Gunn:
No, the "average American" didn't work until today to pay taxes. "Tax Freedom Day" is the day on which the total earnings of all Americans supposedly equals the total taxes Americans will pay for the year. The average American's personal "tax freedom day" comes quite a bit earlier.
4.30.2007 1:22pm
Houston Lawyer:
I would like to see this date calculated for different percentiles in earnings. If your earnings were at the 50th percentile, you passed this date back in February, etc.
4.30.2007 2:10pm
JRL:
For the rest of the year, the average taxpayer is earning money for herself.

I thought when I got out of law school I wouldn't have to see this politically correct misuse of the English language anymore.

/not claiming to be a master grammarian
4.30.2007 2:28pm
joe (mail):
I wish today was my Tax Freedom Day. I still have another month to go...
4.30.2007 3:31pm