Tax Day

The news tonight will be full of people lined up to get their taxes in at the last minute.  I’m usually sending mine out today, but somehow I screwed up my withholding last year and got a refund.  That’s incentive to get it in early.  I’ve been pretty successful with TurboTax, despite having a somewhat complicated return.

Out of curiosity, I looked up Tax Freedom Day at the Tax Foundation website this morning.  The good news is that Indiana Tax Freedom Day is tomorrow the 16th of April.  Last year it was the 13th, so that’s not a good trend.  Unfortunately for the Nation, U.S. Tax Freedom Day is 6 days away on the 21st.  I probably should sit down and figure out what true Tax Freedom Day is for Becky and I, but it might be depressing.  I think taxes would be looked at quite differently if everyone literally had to pay their government obligation for the first part of the year in lieu of having it come out of their paycheck somewhat unseen.

And an interesting comment I heard on the radio today from Jonathan Hoenig.  To paraphrase, when President Obama has held press conferences saying, “I’m going to ask you to pay a little bit more…”, the reality is that he’s not asking, he’s telling…  Asking implies you have a choice.  When the alternate is jail, that’s not much of a choice.

Image Source:  Tax Foundation