Congratulations.
You are just four days away from being able to start working for yourself.
This Saturday is Tax Freedom Day for a typical Californian according to calculations of federal, state, and local taxes compiled by the Tax Foundation based on last year’s taxes. For the nation as a whole when every state is averaged into the mix, today is Tax Freedom Day.
Before you start thinking 106 days out of 365 days isn’t that bad to work to pay all of your local, state, and national taxes you might want to know that reflects simply the visible taxes collected by government. It doesn’t count the amount of taxes collapsed into the price of goods.
If you think that doesn’t add too much to your tax burden, you might want to guess again. Some say it is as high as 50 percent.
How can that be, you might ask?
If you buy a car you know you’re paying sales tax and vehicle licensing fees. But you are also paying the mining tax on the steel, import taxes on components, rail taxes on the shipping, the property and corporation taxes (assuming they actually pay them after Congress gives them relief) plus a smorgasbord of payroll and business taxes.
This system serves those that believe in expanding government’s power - and control of our lives - well. After all, what you don’t see can’t hurt you. Nor is there any connection between what we demand of government - from the latest war in countries where half the populace wouldn’t hesitate to stone Americans to death if they happened to find out they are Christians to helping underwrite the syndication of public radio programs - and what it is really costing us.
How effective stealth taxes have become in lulling us all into happy submission can best be illustrated by how giddy we get when we get a tax refund.
The refund isn’t “free money”. It is money that you earned that the federal governed commandeered because they don’t trust you to pay your taxes. They then used the money for government purposes without paying you interest and refund it to you only after you go through the 1040 gauntlet.
It is why perhaps the most pointed quote by Ronald Reagan during press conferences when he was governor of California came when a reporter asked why he wasn’t caving in to then Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh’s demand to increase state income tax withholding. The legislature had just upped the income tax significantly.
Regan, without missing a beat, shot back that “taxes are supposed to hurt.”
This naturally set off a storm of protest about how callous Reagan was.
They missed the point. As long as you don’t know what you’re paying as the government bleeds you paycheck after paycheck, you are relatively content. Sure you might grumble about taxes but it is entirely different than if you had to send them a check for $6,000 on April 15.
The California Legislature has since eliminated any worry that a future governor might embrace full disclosure of tax increases by putting in place penalties for taxpayers who fail to withhold a set percentage of their tax liability in advance of April 15.
It may make you happy to know mega corporations such as General Electronic don’t pay a penny in income taxes. They start packing away profits as each New Year starts thanks to the majority of Congress - which includes plenty of cohorts in California - openly embrace tax breaks for the big guys by writing special laws or refusing to get rid of existing laws that do the same.
And many of those tax breaks for firms such as GE are for off-shoring jobs and shifting money to foreign bank accounts where they can’t be touched by the IRS tax code
Wall Street has always ben treated different than Main Street.
And when it comes to taxes, the government openly fawns over Wall Street with tax breaks and credits up the kazoo while conspiring to find more stealth ways to take it from Main Street.
You are just four days away from being able to start working for yourself.
This Saturday is Tax Freedom Day for a typical Californian according to calculations of federal, state, and local taxes compiled by the Tax Foundation based on last year’s taxes. For the nation as a whole when every state is averaged into the mix, today is Tax Freedom Day.
Before you start thinking 106 days out of 365 days isn’t that bad to work to pay all of your local, state, and national taxes you might want to know that reflects simply the visible taxes collected by government. It doesn’t count the amount of taxes collapsed into the price of goods.
If you think that doesn’t add too much to your tax burden, you might want to guess again. Some say it is as high as 50 percent.
How can that be, you might ask?
If you buy a car you know you’re paying sales tax and vehicle licensing fees. But you are also paying the mining tax on the steel, import taxes on components, rail taxes on the shipping, the property and corporation taxes (assuming they actually pay them after Congress gives them relief) plus a smorgasbord of payroll and business taxes.
This system serves those that believe in expanding government’s power - and control of our lives - well. After all, what you don’t see can’t hurt you. Nor is there any connection between what we demand of government - from the latest war in countries where half the populace wouldn’t hesitate to stone Americans to death if they happened to find out they are Christians to helping underwrite the syndication of public radio programs - and what it is really costing us.
How effective stealth taxes have become in lulling us all into happy submission can best be illustrated by how giddy we get when we get a tax refund.
The refund isn’t “free money”. It is money that you earned that the federal governed commandeered because they don’t trust you to pay your taxes. They then used the money for government purposes without paying you interest and refund it to you only after you go through the 1040 gauntlet.
It is why perhaps the most pointed quote by Ronald Reagan during press conferences when he was governor of California came when a reporter asked why he wasn’t caving in to then Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh’s demand to increase state income tax withholding. The legislature had just upped the income tax significantly.
Regan, without missing a beat, shot back that “taxes are supposed to hurt.”
This naturally set off a storm of protest about how callous Reagan was.
They missed the point. As long as you don’t know what you’re paying as the government bleeds you paycheck after paycheck, you are relatively content. Sure you might grumble about taxes but it is entirely different than if you had to send them a check for $6,000 on April 15.
The California Legislature has since eliminated any worry that a future governor might embrace full disclosure of tax increases by putting in place penalties for taxpayers who fail to withhold a set percentage of their tax liability in advance of April 15.
It may make you happy to know mega corporations such as General Electronic don’t pay a penny in income taxes. They start packing away profits as each New Year starts thanks to the majority of Congress - which includes plenty of cohorts in California - openly embrace tax breaks for the big guys by writing special laws or refusing to get rid of existing laws that do the same.
And many of those tax breaks for firms such as GE are for off-shoring jobs and shifting money to foreign bank accounts where they can’t be touched by the IRS tax code
Wall Street has always ben treated different than Main Street.
And when it comes to taxes, the government openly fawns over Wall Street with tax breaks and credits up the kazoo while conspiring to find more stealth ways to take it from Main Street.
