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“It has been the latest tax freedom state for the last five years,” William McBride, chief economist for the Tax Foundation, said during a presentation. “Because Connecticut is such a high-income state, they are most affected by the new federal income laws.”
Last year, Tax Freedom Day in Connecticut was May 5, more than a week earlier than this year. And Connecticut is still a week later than the next latest state, New York, which finishes on May 6, preceded by New Jersey on May 4.
Residents of Mississippi and Louisiana have already paid their taxes: The Tax Foundation said their Tax Freedom Day was March 29. Tennessee finished paying taxes on April 2.
Tax Freedom Day, the date it takes for Americans to pay their taxes, has been getting later each year, the Tax Foundation said in a recent study. More than 100 years ago, the average Tax Freedom Day was in January. Now it takes the average American 108 days of working to pay their state, local and federal taxes.
“This year, Americans will work five days later than in 2012 to pay all of their taxes. The total tax bill at all levels comes to approximately $4.2 trillion, or 29.4 percent of their total income,” said McBride. “That means Americans will pay more in taxes in 2013 than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.”
And Connecticut, due to high income taxes and higher than average state and local taxes, has historically been one of the latest states.
“Our state needs to do better. We have a taxing and spending problem in Hartford,” state Rep. Tom O’Dea, R-New Canaan, said in a statement.
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