Georgians collectively will have to work longer this year to settle their total tax obligations, according to new estimates by the Tax Foundation.
Georgians’ “Tax Freedom Day” will be April 12, the day residents will have worked long enough to pay all their federal, state and local taxes. Last year taxpayers made enough money to settle their tax debts by April 9.
Tax Foundation spokesman Richard Borean said the date should not be viewed as how long individual residents will have to work to pay their tax debts, since the length of time varies widely.
“We’re not looking at how much it’s going to take the average person to pay their taxes,” Borean said. “We’re looking at how long it takes taxpayers collectively. It’s a starting place for a discussion on how much of our income is going to the government.”
The nonpartisan tax research group says Americans now pay about 30.2 percent of income toward taxes, which is down from 33 percent in 2000. In 1900, Americans paid only 5.9 percent of their income in taxes.
Many Georgians are scrambling to make sure 2013 tax returns are filed by the April 15 deadline.
The foundation calls its annual report a calendar-based illustration of the cost of government. Nationally, Tax Freedom Day will fall on April 21, three days later than last year. Americans will pay $3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $4.5 trillion.
The foundation blamed the slow economic recovery for the longer length of time it will take this year to settle tax obligations. State-by-state tax rates vary, and so do tax freedom days. Georgia’s Tax Freedom Day ranks 34th nationally.
Georgians face a variety of taxes, the most prominent being a personal income tax system that consists of six brackets and a top rate of 6 percent; a corporate flat rate of 6 percent; a 4 percent sales tax; and per capita property tax of $1,060. Georgia ranks 33rd in state and local property tax collections per capita.
Among other findings:
* Georgia ranks 35th in state and local tax burden, estimated at $3,237 per capita, based on the latest figures available.
* Georgia ranks 48th in state and local revenue per capita ($4,878).
* The state ranks 32nd on the foundation’s business tax climate index, which takes into consideration the corporate taxes, individual income taxes, sales taxes, unemployment insurance taxes and property taxes.
Tax Foundation economists used federal budget projections, U.S. Census and Bureau of Economic Analysis data and state and local tax projections to calculate tax freedom days.
It takes longer for higher income and higher tax states, such as New York and Connecticut , to pay their tax bill, while Tax Freedom Day comes earlier for lower income and lower tax states, such as Mississippi and South Dakota. Louisiana has the earliest Tax Freedom Day, March 30.
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