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1 Kevin Duncan, Americans Paying More in Taxes than for Food, Clothing, and Shelter 1 (2012)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/ffcjjxz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FOUNDATION May 3, 2012 No. 299 Americans Paying More in Taxes than for Food, Clothing, and Shelter By Kevin Duncan In 2012, Americans will pay approximately $4.041 trillion in taxes, which is $152 billion, or 3.9 percent, more than they will spend on housing, food, and clothing.) Through looking at contemporary data and examining the trend of tax collections and expenditures on housing, food, and clothing, we can compare the costs of government with the necessary costs individuals incur every year. Relative to the basic cost of living, taxes have increased considerably in recent decades. In turn, a greater share of essential private expenditures are now funded through government outlays. Historical Perspective: Tax Growth Exceeds Spending Growth Between 1929 and the early 1980s, aggregate tax collections were less than total expenditures on housing, food, and clothing (see chart). From 1929 to 1980, tax liabilities grew from $10 billion to $751 billion, while expenditures on housing, food, and clothing grew from $41.6 billion to $775.7 billion. In 1982, total tax collections exceeded expenditures on Total Taxes Compared to Spending on those items. The gap between tax Food, Clothing, and Housing 4500 collections and expenditures on ess n ti l g o d s re ch e a ax i u m4 0 0 0 ': ............................................................................................................ . essential goods reached a maximum 350 AV_ in 2000, when Americans gave 19 I300 percent more to the governmentT 0olTax -Total Tax than they spent on these items. The 0 ca 2000 growth in tax collections has halted C 200 -- 15007 ... ' ..............' ! ig due to economic contractions, such - - -Food, 1000 clothing a as the collapse of the dot-com 0u bubble in 2001 and the 2007-2009 500 financial crisis.2 0 William McBride, Tax Freedom Day 2012, TAx FOUNDATION SPECIAL REPORT 198 (Apr. 9, 2012), nittp:/ixv-v.taxfouL da-,on.org/files/sri 98.ptdf. 2 National Bureau of Economic Research, U.S. Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions (Apr. 23, 2012), _http-i/nber rgl/__Is _i estnain.htnil. es nd F0 ?isca Fac