Tax Freedom Day

Tax Freedom Day is the day on which we stop working for the Chancellor and start working for ourselves.
If the average person works from 1 Jan each year, it will be June before they have earned enough to pay their taxes.
The tax burden isn’t just income tax and national insurance, it includes VAT, fuel taxed, alcohol and cigarette duties, airline tax, fuel duties, car tax and many, many more.
The preferences for stealth taxes in the past few years has meant that it’s becoming harder for people to understand how much they are paying. The importance of Tax Freedom Day is that it detects stealth taxes.

Tax Freedom Day 2008 falls on 2 June.

This means that for 155 days of the year, every penny earned by the average UK resident was taken to support government expenditures.


1965 27 April 1987 5 June
1966 4 May 1988* 5 June
1967 16 May 1989 3 June
1968* 22 May 1990 3 June
1969 29 May 1991 3 June
1970 2 June 1992* 29 May
1971 25 May 1993 23 May
1972* 17 May 1994 23 May
1973 11 May 1995 26 May
1974 27 May 1996* 25 May
1975 2 June 1997 26 May
1976* 30 May 1998 28 May
1977 31 May 1999 3 June
1978 27 May 2000* 3 June
1979 29 May 2001 4 June
1980* 11 June 2002 26 May
1981 18 June 2003 23 May
1982 20 June 2004* 25 May
1983 14 June 2005 29 May
1984* 14 June 2006 3 June
1985 11 June 2007 4 June
1986 7 June 2008* 2 June

* Leap years make Tax Freedom Day appear 1 day earlier in the year.

IN 2006 THE USA had their day 37 days earlier than us, the EU 8 days later. Another reason why I favour closer links across the Pond, not across the English Channel.

Click the title link for more info.