If you look at the founding of America, lots of things were at play, but one of the main sticking points was “taxation without representation”. King George III of England had been imposing taxes on all manner of things in “The Colonies” without allowing the colonists to be represented before his government. Anyone recall the Boston Tea Party from high school social studies?  It was a tax thing. Since our founding, taxes and freedom have been closely linked.

Each year, The Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy research firm, calculates what it calls “Tax Freedom Day”.  By Tax Freedom Day, the whole of America has earned enough to pay its tax bill for the year, including federal, state, property and sales taxes. Basically, all the money earned prior to Tax Freedom Day pays taxes, and what comes after is what we get to keep.

In 2014, that date was April 21 on average.  Each state has its own based on its tax rates; Minnesotans worked until April 29th to cover their taxes, while our neighbors in South Dakota cleared their tax burden on just April 4th.

This way of looking at the information puts both taxes and government spending into sharp focus.  You can find the article here to see how your state ranks.

From all of us, have a safe and enjoyable Independence Day!