Tax Day Treat

As my first post, I thought I’d treat you to a special Tax Day list of some of the fun ways your hard earned dollars make their way to our government coffers to be spent wisely by our omniscient and benevolent lords and masters. I’m sure the list is incomplete – feel free to add your own.

It’s a useful exercise to try to calculate how much of your annual income ultimately is taken by the government via all the means. Disclaimer: I cannot be held responsible for the likely subsequent uptick in the suicide rate among the vast readership of this fine blog (or blogue).

And away … we … go:

Federal income tax
Federal Medicare tax
Federal Social Security tax
State income tax
Municipal income tax
Property Tax
Capital gains tax
Corporate income tax
Estate tax
State sales tax
Bridge and highway tolls
Bus, subway, and rail fares
Cell phone surcharges
Cable bill surcharges
Drivers license renewal fee
Building permit tax
Cigarette tax
Parking, sanitation, and other fines
Gasoline tax
Luxury taxes
School taxes
Recycling deposits (that nobody ever gets back)

And introducing:
Health insurance tax
Soda taxes
VAT tax

Every dollar (of the countless trillions) spent by the government has to come from somewhere. And ultimately, every dollar comes from you. Yes you. Sitting over there. Squinting at the screen. You know who you are. The Tax Man is coming.

Hide your soda can.