That Americans are forced to pay more for government than they pay for food, clothing and health care combined has become an enduring fact of life. $12,834.34 for those same necessities. In 2015, it was $15,548.36 versus $13,210.83. In 2016, it was $17,153.30 versus $13,617.60. And, in 2017, it was $16,750.20 versus $14,489.54. Even when all the numbers for the last six years are converted into constant December 2018 dollars (using the BLS inflation calculator), the largest annual margin between the amount paid in taxes and the amount paid for food, clothing and health care was last year’s $3,859.82. The margin was so great last year that you can add the $3,225.55 Table R-1 says the average consumer unit paid for entertainment to the $14,758.11 it paid for food, clothing and health care, and the combined $17,983.66 is still less than the $18,617.93 it paid for the five categories of taxes. You get a similar result if you add what the average consumer unit paid in 2018 for electricity ($1,496.14) and telephone services ($1,407.36) to a combined $2,903.50. Yes, Americans on average paid more in taxes last year than they paid for food, clothing, health care, electricity and telephone services combined.
the average of $5,023.73 in Social Security taxes that 77.21% of respondents reported paying. “You asked us to verify the amounts for the total taxes and expenditures on food, apparel/ services, and healthcare,” said BLS. “Based on table R-1 for 2018, your definition for food, apparel, and healthcare matches the BLS definition and the total dollars. Your dollar amounts for federal, state, and local income taxes and for property taxes are correct, as is the amount for Social Security deductions. For the combined pension amount ($6,830.71) that we publish however, in addition to the $5,023.73 for Social Security, there is an additional amount for government retirement deductions ($135.11), railroad retirement deductions ($2.85), private pension deductions ($608.22), and non- payroll deposits for pensions ($1,060.79).” That Americans are forced to pay more for government than they pay for food, clothing and health care combined has become an enduring fact of life. A review of the BLS Table R-1s for the last six years on record shows that in every one of those years, the average American consumer unit paid more in taxes than it paid for food, clothing and health care combined. In 2013, the average American consumer unit paid a combined $13,327.22 for the same five categories of taxes cited above for 2018, while paying a combined $11,836.80 for food, clothing and health care. In 2014, the average American consumer unit paid $14,664.13 for those same taxes and
Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSnews.com.
American Consequences
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