Which Is Higher, Your Food Bill or Your Tax Bill?
How high is your tax bill? Would you say you spend more on taxes than you do on food? What about clothing and shelter; do you spend more on them than you do on your taxes? The answer might surprise you. That’s because in actuality you probably spend more on your taxes every year than you spend on all three of those things combined. That’s according to the Tax Foundation, which claims that Americans pays more in taxes every year than they do for essential necessities.
According to the Tax Foundation, Americans will pay $4.85 trillion in taxes in the year 2015 between federal and state taxes. That is approximately 31 percent of the country’s total income. Meanwhile, based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis the Tax Foundation estimates that the country will spend about $4.3 trillion in 2015 for basic necessities such as food, clothing and housing.
So do these numbers represent a real issue for the country and its citizens? That depends on how you look it. On the down side, the difference between spending on the basic essentials and taxes is getting worse. Whereas in 2012, the difference was about $150 billion, in 2015 it will likely be about $550 billion. That’s not a good sign. However, the Tax Foundation does not decipher spending between the different classes, so the number could be somewhat misleading.
In any case, there is no question that Americans are paying a hefty tax bill every year and the numbers would appear to indicate that that tax bill is only going to continue to rise. If you are interested in learning more about keeping your tax bill as low as possible, then contact us at GROCO today at 1-877-CPA-2006, or click here.
Building an Estate Planning Team
Building an Estate Planning Team To create an estate plan that serves your unique needs and that will execute your wishes as to the distribution of your assets is an important and, often, a complex task. Such professionals usually have honed their skills in their own specific fields. Sound estate planning is built upon a…
Investors: A Growing Taste For Exotic Fare
Investors: A Growing Taste For Exotic Fare Even conservative investors are tempted by the returns of emerging-market funds For many managers of emerging-market funds, the biggest problem these days is that folks just love them too much. It used to be that buying stocks in Turkey and picking up distressed debt in Argentina was for…
When it Comes to Payroll Taxes, Don’t Mess With the IRS
When it Comes to Payroll Taxes, Don’t Mess With the IRS It’s payday! Everybody loves payday, except for the company making all those payments. It’s not that companies don’t want to pay their employees; rather it’s the high cost of payroll taxes that comes with having those employees. However, that’s the law, so if your…
Ten Facts about Capital Gains and Losses
Ten Facts about Capital Gains and Losses Source: IRS.gov The term “capital asset” for tax purposes applies to almost everything you own and use for personal or investment purposes. A capital gain or loss occurs when you sell a capital asset. Here are 10 facts from the IRS on capital gains and losses: Almost everything…