How to Calculate Tax Freedom Day

Section: Members Highlights / WTA Blog
4 May 2017 | Tax Foundation / United States
United States

 

Tax Freedom Day is the day when a nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. It is a useful way of representing how large a nation’s tax burden is compared to the size of its economy.

For any given year, the date of Tax Freedom Day can be calculated in three steps:

  1. Add up all taxes paid to federal and sub-national governments in that year.
  2. Divide the total by net national product in that year.
  3. Multiply the resulting fraction by 365, and round downward, to yield the number of days before Tax Freedom Day.

In order to find out more about how to calculate the Tax Freedom Day, check this Guide facilitated by the Tax Foundation.