Good Friday and the beginning of the Easter holiday makes this a three-day weekend. It might have been four days since technically Monday is also a federal holiday, District of Columbia Emancipation Day if you believe that. Goodness it seems like they’re always looking for any excuse for a holiday though, truth be told, it always did strike me as being distinctly un-American that D.C. residents, living in the very seat of our democracy, had always been disenfranchised from that same democracy. So the government is taking Monday off (which is why taxes aren’t due until the 18th this year) but the markets aren’t. So here’s wishing everyone a happy Easter holiday while we have it.
Meanwhile,
this being tax season, Barry Ritholtz’s column yesterday about taxation seemed
particularly timely and puts perspective on the reality that we Americans enjoy
a pretty low tax rate compared to most other countries. Are we really against taxation without
representation? Or are we as Bush Sr.
once put it just against new taxes? (Remember
the infamous “Read My Lips, No New Taxes” pledge?) Or is it more accurate to say that we are
simply against any taxes, period! In
this Easter season it may be appropriate to reflect on just how good we have it
as Americans? That’s what Ritholtz wrote
about yesterday and I submit it below.
Reminder: You Are Hardly Overtaxed in America!
Listen, I don’t like paying taxes anymore than
the next guy, but can we please drop the pretense that we are overtaxed in the
United States? (And please use the money to dix the f*#&ing roads,
already)
Here; is BBRG:
Americans generally feel they’re being over-taxed, especially around this time of the year . . . The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development analyzed how 35 countries tax wage-earners, making it possible to compare tax burdens across the world’s biggest economies. Each year, the OECD measures what it calls the “tax wedge,” the gap between what a worker gets paid and what they actually spend or save. Included are income taxes, payroll taxes, and any tax credits or rebates that supplement worker income. Excluded are the countless other ways that governments levy taxes, such as sales and value-added taxes, property taxes, and taxes on investment income and gains.
Taxes Around the
World
Source: Bloomberg
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