Email insights: Happy Taxpayer Independence Day!

As most Americans recover from a Tax Day hangover, there is one day all taxpayers can celebrate: Monday, April 20.

Happy Taxpayer Independence Day!

In a new email, Florida TaxWatch is calling all Floridians to mark Taxpayer Independence Day; the first day in the calendar year the average taxpayer begins earning an income that is all theirs.

From this day on, no more money goes toward federal, state and local taxes.

Of course, that also means every penny earned from Jan. 1 through Sunday go to pay the state, city and Uncle Sam.

“Taxpayer Independence Day is certainly a celebration, but it truly shows Floridians the presence that different levels of government have in their daily lives, and in their paycheck,”  Florida TaxWatch President Dominic Calabro said.

As one of the seven states without a state income tax, the largest burden on taxpayers in the Sunshine State is federal tax. TaxWatch estimates federal taxes take up more than 69.3 percent of Floridians’ federal, state and local tax burden.

For the average Floridian, that means a state tax burden of 17 percent and local tax burden of 13.7 percent of total taxes paid.

Putting it in context; based on an average personal income, Florida taxpayers must work 2 hours and 24 minutes each day just to pay taxes.

Workers in a 9-to-5 job will not begin earning wages for themselves until 11:24 a.m.

Each state sees Taxpayer Independence Day on a different date, and Florida is fortunate in that it celebrates earlier than 20 other states, as well as earlier than the nation as a whole. However, this year the day comes a bit later, mostly from increased consumer spending and rising federal taxes. That’s despite the Legislature’s pledge to reduce taxes by nearly $500 million in 2014.

“Taxpayer Independence Day helps Floridians evaluate the cost of government and understand how our tax burden lines up with those across the nation,” Calabro said. “Taxpayer Independence Day proves that Florida is a taxpayer-friendly state and that Floridians’ state and local tax burden remains low compared to the federal tax burden.”

So while there other reasons why people celebrate 4/20 — you know who you are — everyone else in Florida can finally start working for themselves.