March 25 was Alaska’s Tax Freedom Day (TFD)—the day Alaskans and businesses in Alaska had worked enough days to pay all state and local taxes for the year. This is the earliest state TFD of the year, meaning Alaskans have the lowest average tax burden in the U.S. We should keep it that way.
TFD in Alaska is the day taxpayers in the state have earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. It is calculated by adding all state and local taxes and dividing them by the state’s income. In Alaska, TFD typically falls on March 25, 84 days into the year.
Oklahoma, Florida, and Louisiana have the next earliest TFDs, on March 30, April 4, and April 4, respectively. In comparison, New York has the latest TFD of the year on May 30, 67 days after Alaska’s. New York taxpayers have the highest average total tax burden in the nation.
At the national level, TFD is all federal, state, and local taxes combined, divided by the national income. In 2019, the year with the latest data, it occurred on April 16. According to the Tax Foundation, “In 2019, Americans [paid] $3.42 trillion in federal taxes and $1.86 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $5.29 trillion, or 29 percent of national income.”
Tax Freedom Day comes early in Alaska, signifying one of the greatest aspects of the state—Alaskans’ freedom. We should strive to keep Alaskans’ hard-earned money in their pockets rather than in the state coffers. Introducing new taxes or increasing current ones would stifle that freedom.