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Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 8:01 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 8:01 a.m.

If youre a procrastinator, youre keenly aware that Tuesday is the deadline to file your federal income-tax return.

Its also Tax Freedom Day, signifying the number of days this year its 107 the average American must work just to pay off his federal, state and local taxes.

The Tax Foundation, a national nonprofit watchdog group, makes the calculation each year using the latest government data on income and taxes. Put another way, the average American works from Jan. 1 through April 17 just to make enough money to pay his or her tax bill.

In this years report, economist Will McBride also calculated how long Americans would have to work to close the federal governments $1 trillion budget deficit. It would take Americans until May 14 to earn enough money to pay that bill.

This year, Americans will pay $2.62 trillion in federal taxes and $1.42 trillion in state-local taxes out of $13.86 trillion in income, for a 29.2 percent tax bill, McBride said in a news release. That means taxpayers will pay more in taxes in 2012 than they will spend on food, clothing and housing

combined.

But Louisianans do have a bright side to look at. Tax Freedom Day fell on April 1 this year, tied with Mississippi for second-earliest in the country. Only Tennessee, at March 31, was earlier. Residents of places with earlier Tax Freedom Days have lower tax burdens than their peers in other states.

Historically, the date for Tax Freedom Day has fluctuated.

The latest-ever Tax Freedom Day was May 1, 2000 meaning Americans paid 33 percent of their total income in taxes. A century earlier, in 1900, Americans paid only 5.9 percent of their income in taxes, and Tax Freedom Day arrived Jan. 22.

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La. celebrated Tax Freedom Day earlier than most

The conservative Tax Foundation is a Washington, D.C. based think tank with a long history of publishing research studies and comparing state tax policy. The foundation receives funding from big corporations and far-right political groups.

Tax Freedom Day is the foundations point of the year when Americans have earned enough money to pay for taxes. The date is crudely calculated by taking taxes paid in the current year, divided by the nations income for the year.

This year, that day nationally was April 17. The latest the date has fallen was May 1, 2000.

The foundation rates Montanas business tax climate as very favorable, ranking it No. 8 out of the 50 states. The foundation rates Montanas state and local tax burden well below the national average.

Montana still has no statewide sales tax. And plenty of us like it that way.

Montana is one of a handful of states that reasonably weathered the economic meltdown spurred by gamblers on Wall Street. Montana has a growing $400 million budget surplus, thanks to the frugal financial management of Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Personal income increased over 5 percent from last year, which will boost Montanas budget forecast. But since these forecasts are politically amended by legislators, they are often wrong. Schweitzer simply refers to the more than $341 million of cold hard cash in the bank.

During his tenure as governor, Schweitzer made a practice of cutting taxes. From lowering taxes on energy production, to multiple tax cuts on business equipment, to new property tax credits, to a historic $100 million property tax rebate distributed equally to homeowners.

But instead of finding a permanent property tax fix for homeowners living in high-growth regions, Republicans controlling the 2011 Montana Legislature had another idea. The GOP put onto the primary ballot a referendum that would result in an automatic tax credit when budget revenue reaches 25 percent more than what was politically projected by legislators.

On Legislative Referendum 123, former Republican Montana secretary of state and state Senate president Bob Brown recently wrote that he had participated in five unplanned special sessions of the Legislature.

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Tax Freedom

LAKE JACKSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Texas Congressman and Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul issued the following statement regarding today being Tax Freedom Day, the day when average Americans finally stop working to pay federal, state, and local taxes.

Below please find comments from Congressman Paul:

Knowing that every penny the average American has earned from January 1st until today has gone to pay federal, state, or local taxes is a frightening reminder of how much liberty modern Americans have lost. Unfortunately, even after Tax Freedom Day, Americans will still suffer from the Federal Reserve's regressive and hidden inflation tax, which erodes their purchasing power for the benefit of big banks and big-spending politicians.

As a Congressman, I have never voted to raise taxes or increase spending, which is why I have consistently been named one of the top 'Taxpayers Best Friends' in Congress by the non-partisan National Taxpayers Union. As President, I will work to reduce the burden of taxes and spending on the American people by passing my Plan to Restore America.

This Plan not only cuts $1 trillion in the first year of my administration and balances the budget by the third year, but it provides much-needed tax relief to the American people. It does this by permanently extending the Bush-era tax rates, lowering the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, allowing American companies to repatriate capital without paying additional taxes, abolishing the death tax, and ending all taxes on personal savings.

My Plan to Restore America also begins to free the American people from the inflation tax by conducting a full audit of the Federal Reserve and legalizing competing currencies. These simple steps will allow the American people to at last learn the truth about how the Fed is working to prop up big banks at the expense of average Americans standard of living and then to take the appropriate actions to protect themselves and their families.

My ultimate goal remains to repeal the 16th Amendment and end the tyranny of the IRS once and for all. Of the four men seeking the presidential nomination of one of the major parties - President Obama, Governor Romney, Speaker Gingrich, and myself - I am the only one who has consistently opposed increases in taxes and spending. I am also the only one who has consistently fought the Federal Reserve's assault on the middle class' standard of living. My campaign to Restore America Now is the clear choice for any American concerned about rolling back taxes, cutting spending, and curbing inflation.

Authorized and paid for by Ron Paul 2012 PCC Inc. http://www.RonPaul2012.com

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Ron Paul Statement on Tax Freedom Day

The Government has warned of a crackdown on expats who are illegally fleecing the UK for benefits, as it struggles to lessen the country's debt burden.

During a visit to a Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) team in Madrid yesterday, the work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said that the Government was determined to clamp down on the huge number of benefit cheats who live aboad.

Figures show that expat benefit fraud cost around 43 million last year, with the popular destination of Spain being the main hotspot for such activity.

This money should be going to the people who need it most and not lining the pockets of criminals sunning themselves overseas, said Mr Duncan Smith.

The vast majority of British people overseas are law-abiding, but fraudulently claiming benefits while living abroad is a crime and we are committed to putting a stop to it.

Some benefits, such as child benefit and the state pension, can be legitimately claimed abroad, but many more, including income support, are not considered exportable.

Common benefit scams perpetrated by expats include not declaring that they have moved abroad so that they can continue to pick up certain benefits, hiding assets abroad such as property or savings, or claiming unemployment or sickness benefits while working overseas.

Mr Duncan Smith encouraged law-abiding Britons in Spain, where income support and pension credit claims are most commonly investigated for fraud, to contact the DWP using a special hotline if they suspected someone they knew was committing benefit fraud.

The Spanish hotline is believed to have received over 750 tip-offs since it was set up in 2008, and has led to a similar scheme being established in neighbouring Portugal.

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£43 million given to expat benefit fraudsters

BEIRUT: President Sleiman Wednesday encouraged Lebanese Australians to submit their names to the civil registry in anticipation of the approval of a draft law that would allow Lebanese expatriates to apply for dual citizenship.

In Australia on an official visit, Sleiman said that the draft law, which Cabinet approved late last year, has been submitted to Parliament and will be approved soon.

He spoke at a meeting of the Lebanese community in Sydney.

The law would allow Lebanese expatriates who were born abroad and only hold the citizenship of the countries where they were born to apply for Lebanese citizenship. Calling Lebanese expatriates the oxygen of Lebanon, he said they should have preferential opportunities to invest in Lebanon, and urged the diaspora to not give up Lebanese land, for it is precious. Build your home on it.

Sleiman said diaspora citizenship was important to support Lebanon and reinforce its strength through the expatriates who are spread across the world.

In addition to discussing developments in Syria and the region, Sleiman said that the most important project for Lebanon is to develop a modern electoral law that will represent all Lebanese fully, and will ensure the right of expatriates to vote.

The president also met with Marie Bashir, the governor of New South Wales, who is of Lebanese descent.

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Sleiman urges Lebanese expats to prepare for dual citizenship