How Fair Is the Nation's Tax Burden?

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Introduction

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Overview

The April 16 deadline for filing federal income tax returns is less than two weeks away, triggering the familiar taxpayer laments about owing too much to the tax collector. The wealthiest taxpayers are as likely to complain as the less well-off—and sometimes more so, as the wealthy are more likely to owe the government money, while the poor are more likely to receive a refund. But everyone gripes about high taxes. And not without reason: Taxes are higher; each year the government takes more money out of our collective pockets.

One measure of the steady climb in tax obligations is “Tax Freedom Day,” the date each year when an “average” worker's total annual tax bill—federal, state and local—would be paid if all his earnings since Jan. 1 went to taxes. In 1988, the unofficial observance occurred on May 3. In 1989, it was on May 4. The Tax Foundation, the Washington, D.C., public-policy group that charts Tax Freedom Day, foresees the day moving “further into May” in the years ahead.