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Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Government is literally taxing the shirts off Americans’ backs


 

Poor Man Survival

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Report: Government is literally taxing the shirts off Americans’ backs
   Both our state & local governments in MI have jacked up their “fees” [disguised tax rates] for several items such as auto registration fees [doubled the cost for our cars], our water bill is now $3,000 annually [only a small portion for usage, the majority is based on the value of our property], our property taxes increased, fuel taxes increased, etc.  Since we have no mortgages, auto loans, credit card bills, or other debt, we spend more to support the government than any other item of our monthly budget.
This is the part of “inflation” they don’t cover on the nightly news but everyday Americans know that inflation is robbing us.  EVERYTHING cost more, in some cases such, as health insurance premiums [which many employers no longer cover], a lot more.
We’ve been planning to expand our rural cabin by 600sf. And have been buying materials to accomplish this.  However, we just got another slap in the face by the township government which altered the rules for building requirements which added another $3,800 to our cost.
Whether the government calls them user fees or taxes, they’ve gone up everywhere and burden the all classes of Americans but hit the middle and lower income strata especially hard.  They are another disguised form of inflation and businesses who get hit with them just pass them along to consumers.
 

Average Americans forked more money over to government for taxes in 2016 than they spent on basic needs like food and clothing, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For American “consumer units,” the average tax bill increased from $7,423 in 2013 to $10,489 in 2016, according to the BLS data.

“Consumer units” include “all members of a particular household who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements,” or “a person living alone or sharing a household with others or living as a roomer in a private home or lodging house or in a permanent living quarters in a hotel or motel, but who is financially independent,” or “two or more persons living together who use their income to make joint expenditure decisions.”

On average, “consumer units” made $74,664 in 2016. Out of that came $10,489 in taxes divided between $8,367 in federal income taxes, $2,046 in state and local income taxes, and $75 in other taxes.

The same spending on food and clothing necessities combined is less.

The average consumer unit spent $1,803 on clothing for the year, including $427 on items for “men and boys,” and $665 for “women and girls,” $66 in spending was on clothing for “children under 2,” $388 for “footwear,” and $257 for “other apparel and services.”

Food costs were higher, including average spending of $4,029 for “food at home” and $3,154 for “food away from home.”

This entry was posted in Taxpayer Dimes

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Related: 14 Tools to Make One Income Living Possible



Fall for These 9 Freebies You Can Get in September


From complimentary food to free music, here are seven great freebies you can enjoy as the leaves change and the air turns crisp.


 

Save $614.27 at the Grocery and Drugstore This Month


Using a single coupon app or website can save you big bucks on classic candy brands, DayQuil and NyQuil, Fancy Feast, Pantene conditioner (for free.) and dozens more items.


 
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Bruce, the Poor Man, free thinker, social critic & cynic

 
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2 comments:

Larry said...

Thanks to the Fed & Congress the spending power of our dollar is joke and few Americans have had a real raise since 1970...if you are on Social Security, forget it-no such thing as COLA increases [those only go to congress critters]. With few exceptions the only middle class jobs in this country are those who work for the government & they get the best retirement and health packages while the private sector usually gets crap...but we still fork out the dough to the spendthrift government.

DAR said...

Why do you think big biz wants cheap illegal labor-they don't want to pay a decent wage to anyone if they can help it...