“Tax Freedom Day” beats tax deadline

I wish I had planned this timing.

I wrote my Death and taxes post thinking that my time peg was that it would run in The Gazette on Monday, April 13, just two days before the April 15 deadline for filing income tax forms. What I didn’t realize (but just learned) was that today is Tax Freedom Day, the day that the Tax Foundation and other anti-tax people highlight every year to emphasize how much of our income goes to paying taxes.

Actually, with the federal stimulus package cutting some taxes and with income falling along with the economy, Tax Freedom Day comes eight days earlier this year than it did last year and two weeks earlier than in 2007.

I remember when this day came in early May. Now you’re supposedly free of taxes before you even pay them (if you’re a procrastinator).

Amusing (to me anyway) update: Just 10 minutes after I tweeted a link to this post, using the phrase “Tax Freedom Day,” the Tax Foundation started following me. Boy, are they going to  be disappointed.