Where Is Your Paycheck Going?

While many of the nation’s high net-worth individuals make much of their income through capital gains, those who still collect a paycheck are doling out of cash to the IRS every time they get paid. The same is true for all taxpayers no matter what income level they fall in. In fact, according to a recent report, American taxpayers will spend more on taxes in 2016 than some of the most basic monthly expenditures combined.

The Tax Foundation recently reported that the nation’s taxpayers would pay $3.3 trillion in federal taxes and an additional $1.6 trillion in state and local taxes this year. That is almost $5 trillion in total taxes paid, which represents 31 percent of the country’s income. To put that into perspective, Americans will pay more in taxes this year than they will for housing, clothing and food combined.

So, next time you wonder where your paycheck is going just look to the federal government, because they own about a third of it. The percentage is even higher for high net-worth individuals. Meantime, the Tax Foundation also reported that Tax Freedom Day fell on April 24 this year, one day earlier than last year. Tax Freedom Day represents how long the country, as a whole, has to work to pay off its tax debt for the entire year. So in a sense, up until this point in the year, the nation’s entire workforce has been working for free.