March 28, 2024
Columns

Death and taxes ... mostly taxes

By now, it's likely most of you have already filed your taxes, possibly receiving your refund or sending Uncle Sam more of your hard-earned paycheck. Others are getting ready for that last minute April 14 crunch to get them finished and in, so you don't have time to consider just how much you're paying.

How much you're paying, of course, is dependent mostly on how much you make. The more money you make (Theoretically; your milage may vary.), the more you pay in taxes.

However, almost as important is where you live. It's not necessarily whether you live in an urban or rural area, although that also has a slight impact on what the government wants from your pocket. It's what state. Each state has what's called a "Tax Freedom Day." The Tax Foundation has the definition for you ...

"Tax Freedon Day is the day that the average American has earned enough money (in theory) to pay off his or her total tax obligations for the year. The calculation used to determine this date assumes everyone in the nation works for eight hours a day beginning Jan. 1, and that every dollar earned is not spent."

Basically, "Tax Freedom Day" is when you stop working for the government and start earning money for yourself.

The numbers haven't been released for 2014 yet, so let's look at 2013 to get an idea of when you start actually earning a paycheck. On average, the typical American taxpayer worked until April 18 last year — three days after your tax return was due — to pay off his tax obligations (not including sales or services taxes, of course.)

So how do we do locally? I have some good news, and I have some bad news.

The latest "Tax Freedom Day" occurred in Connecticut last year on May 13. That was followed by New York at May 6, and New Jersey on May 4. You can probably see the bad news coming now.

Who's number four? Yep, that would be Illinois, Home of the Unfunded Mandate. The average Illinois taxpayer has to wait until April 25 before the bacon he brings home stops going to Washington. That means 46 states are off the clock before we are. The first states earning their own paycheck are Louisiana and Mississippi, who get out from under on March 29.

As I mentioned, income is perhaps the greatest factor in how much you pay with the wealthier among us (again, in theory) paying more than the rest of us. Does the average person in Illinois make more than other states? No, but the people who own or work in the upper management of businesses based in Chicago certainly do. That skews the number up tremendously.

Therefore, it's likely you're done paying taxes before the uber-wealthy in the Windy City (again, in theory), a little more good news.

Filtered with a little more bad news: The Tax Foundation also reported unemployment dropped nationwide except in four states. Yes, Illinois is one of them.

Ken Schroeder can be reached at kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com.

Ken Schroeder can be reached at news@tonicanews.com.