Tax bill now bigger than costs of food, clothing and health care combined

We spend a lot of money on things like food, clothes, and of course, health care. In fact, the average American spent more than $14,000 on those basic necessities in 2018. As much as that is, it pales in comparison to what we spend each year in taxes. We spent more than $18,600 to satisfy our tax obligations last year. According to government statistics, we spend more than $9000 in federal income taxes, another $5000 on Social Security taxes, almost $2300 on state and local taxes and nearly $2000 on property taxes. In total, we spend almost $4000 a year more on taxes than we do on food, clothing and health care. Throw in your electricity and cell phone bills, and the cost of taxes is still more. That is a shame. We hear the politicians talk of cutting taxes, but somehow it seems they only go up. And what do we get for all our hard earned money that ends up in the government’s hands? Are our lives in any way better thanks to all the money we give to the federal government each year? They can’t even seem to be able to pay to fill the potholes, much less take on any big initiatives. So it seems this is the new reality. You can add a third certainty to life, no longer just death and taxes, but also a tax bill higher than the costs of our day-to-day living.