Stunning: Alabamians must work from Jan. 1 to April 9 just to pay taxes

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April 9, 2015

Congratulations, Alabamians! Today is the day the non-profit Tax Foundation estimates you have worked long enough to have paid your combined federal, state, and local tax obligations!

To pay what they owe the government, Alabamians must essentially fork over the equivalent of what they earned from the beginning of the year until today, April 9th.

Alabama’s lower-than-national-average state tax burden allows it to celebrate this momentous occasion a little earlier than the rest of the country, whose overall Tax Freedom Day is April 24th—only Louisiana, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Tennessee celebrate earlier.

According to the Tax Foundation, Americans will pay a total of $3.28 trillion in federal taxes and $1.57 trillion in state and local taxes this year.

“Tax Freedom Day is a significant date for taxpayers and lawmakers because it represents how long Americans as a whole have to work in order to pay the nation’s tax burden,” said the Tax Foundation in its study detailing this year’s tax load.

“Historically, the date for Tax Freedom Day has fluctuated significantly,” the report continues. “The latest-ever Tax Freedom Day was May 1, 2000 – meaning that Americans paid 33% of their collective incomes towards taxes. A century earlier, in 1900, only 5.9% of national income was required to pay the tax bill, and Tax Freedom Day fell January 22.”

Troy University assistant professor Dr. John Dove points out in an op-ed published on AL.com Thursday that this year Americans will pay more in taxes than on food, housing, and clothing combined.

“It’s certainly discouraging to learn that it takes Alabama 99 days into the year to pay this tab,” Dove remarked. “But in helping taxpayers clearly see the enormous cost of government, the Tax Foundation’s report can serve as a wake-up call and useful tool to guide changes to the tax code to make it easier for workers and families across the state to make ends meet and even thrive.”