Happy Tax Freedom Day

Wednesday May 28 is Tax Freedom day in the UK … the day the average Brit stops working for the government, and start working for themselves. That’s 148 days a year. Or so I’m told by the Adam Smith Institute. It is April 21 in the USA.

According the Adam Smith Institute “It is calculated by comparing general government tax revenue with Net National Income (NNI). The total of all government tax revenue – direct and indirect taxes, local taxes and National Insurance contributions – is calculated as a percentage of NNI at market prices. This year it comes to 41.09%. That percentage is then converted to days of the year, starting from 1 January. The first day of the year that Britons work for themselves rather than the taxman is Tax Freedom Day.”

For the wealthy and for the poor it is a lot earlier. For us suckers in the middle it is a lot later of course. The idea that when it’s all added up (including VAT, petrol tax, National Insurance) it comes to just over 40% is simply laughable. The word ‘average’ of course is where the deceit lies. It is sobering to remember that half the UK population gets more from the government than they put in.

Then there’s the Cost of Government Day — the day the government stops spending money — a more realistic figure of nearly 50% … this year it will be 26th June.

And as they say, ‘even the Mafia doesn’t charge you 50%’.

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