Workers are paying two days more wages in tax this year
BRITONS are spending two more days working for the government this year than in 2011, the Adam Smith Institute revealed today in its Tax Freedom Day report.
Calculating the tax paid by the average worker over the year, the institute’s figures show that every penny earned so far this year has gone to the government, and only from today are workers earning for themselves.
The double-dip recession, last year’s VAT increase, fuel duty and high income taxes are all contributors, said the institute.
Once government spending and borrowing is taken into account, the “cost of government” day falls on 23 June – down from 30 June last year, meaning the deficit reduction plan has knocked seven days-worth from state activity.
“In the Middle Ages a serf only had to work four months of the year for the feudal landlord, whereas in modern Britain people have to toil five months for Osborne’s tax gatherers,” said ASI director Eamonn Butler.
“Just as the rest of us have had to cut back, so should the government. The UK economy would be a lot healthier for it.”