Politics & Government

Connecticut Residents Rejoice! We Have Achieved Tax Freedom

Well, for this year anyway. Tax Freedom Day, the day by which residents must work in order to pay all their taxes, was Monday, May 13. Out of the 50 states, Connecticut has achieved tax freedom the latest each year for the last five years.

Hey Connecticut, feel like you've hit a milestone this week? You have! You're no longer working to pay off your state, federal and local taxes. 

Tax Freedom Day, the day by which we must work in order to pay all of our  taxes, was Monday, May 13. Out of the 50 states, Connecticut has reached this point the latest each year for the last five years, according to the website Tax Foundation. 

On average, Americans worked until April 18 this year to pay off all of their tax obligations. While Connecticut reached Tax Freedom Day the latest this year, Louisiana and Mississippi tied for reaching it the earliest. Both those states hit Tax Freedom on March 29. 

You can see a map of all the states and their corresponding Tax Freedom dates here. 

Connecticut has been "the latest tax freedom state for the last five years,” the website Wilton Daily Voice quotes William McBride, chief economist for the Tax Foundation. “Because Connecticut is such a high-income state, they are most affected by the new federal income laws.” 

"Tax Freedom Day has not always been this late in the year," the Tax Foundation says on its website. "World War I tax increases led to a jump in Tax Freedom Day from 1917’s January 24 to 1918’s February 8 to 1921’s February 22. In the 1920s, when Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes described taxes as the price of civilized society, Tax Freedom Day was arriving in February. 

"The Great Depression and the Hoover/Roosevelt tax increases led not only to a later Tax Freedom Day but a shift in who was collecting. In 1932, Americans spent 10 days paying federal taxes and 46 days paying state and local taxes. By 1940, Americans worked 33 days to pay each. World War II brought increased federal spending and borrowing, with Tax Freedom Day arriving in April for the first time in 1943."


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