Dlugash, an accountant and financial planner with the New York firm Marks Paneth & Shron.

'You can't really look at it as Tax Freedom Day, because it will be different for everybody, but your personal tax freedom day is important,' said Alan J. But financial advisers point out that the Tax Freedom Day can be a symbolic reminder for personal investing and budgeting. Obviously, in a country of citizens with hugely disparate incomes, the fact that the date is an average for all Americans signifies that the actual amount of work needed to finance taxes varies widely. Most American workers pay local and federal taxes through their monthly paychecks, so the date itself has a somewhat mythical existence. After all, it's not exactly a holiday, and it's not like the next 8½ months will be tax-free. It's doubtful that many Americans have April 17 circled on their calendars, and don't expect keg tapping and parties to ensue.

In a telling note, Americans need only spend two days at work to achieve our average yearly savings. We'll work 65 days to pay for housing and household expenses, 52 days for health and medical funding, 31 days for food, 22 days for recreation and 13 days to pay for clothing and accessories. That's up from 28.6 percent last year.īreaking it down, the Tax Foundation's report estimates Americans will work 70 days to afford federal taxes and an additional 37 days for state and local taxes. 1 to April 17 for the government, according to the report. Overall, 29.1 percent of Americans' 2005 incomes will go to taxes, which amounts to working from Jan. 'As economic growth pushes people into higher tax brackets, tax collections grow faster than incomes,' Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge said in a statement announcing the report's release. Economists with the Tax Foundation said the later arrival this year indicates the tax burden has resumed its more typical upward movement after falling the past two years. The date had been arriving earlier each year since 2000, when the economy bubble that boosted tax collections to higher levels had pushed it all the way to May 3. This year's Tax Freedom Day arrives two days later than in 2004, which, due to recent tax cuts, was the earliest arrival in 37 years. Tax Freedom Day, the date when average Americans have earned enough money to pay their 2005 federal, state and local taxes, falls on April 17 this year, as calculated annually by the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit tax policy research organization. But how many of them are aware that it won't be until two days after the deadline that they'll have worked enough hours to pay off their yearly tax bill? Ap— - Millions of Americans are no doubt scrambling to submit their tax returns as the annual April 15 tax filing deadline looms.

Tax freedom day