Thumbs Up: Tax Freedom Earlier

Thanks to the tax cuts enacted bythe president and Congress, TaxFreedom Day—the theoretical day youstop making money to pay taxes andstart earning money for yourself—hasbeen celebrated earlier in recent years.This year, according to the TaxFoundation, you stopped working topay federal, state, and local taxesaround April 11. That's three days earlierthan last year, but significantly earlierthan in 2000, when workers didn'tget out from under their tax burdenuntil May 2. Most of the gain is due tocuts in federal income taxes. In 2000, ittook the average worker 84 days to paytaxes to Uncle Sam; in 2003, it took just74 days. The tax situation is even worsein Great Britain, where taxpayers don'tstart earning money for themselvesuntil the end of May. In EuropeanUnion countries, workers toil foralmost half the year to pay their taxes.