The Tax Foundation has long calculated Tax Freedom Day, which illustrates the percentage of each year the U.S. economy works to fund government at all levels. But what about “Tax Freedom Century”? That is, what part of the 20th Century did the U.S. economy work to fund the rapid expansion of government that took place during that period? We did the math, and the answer may come as a surprise. It turns out Americans worked nearly one-third of the 20th Century to fund government—including two world wars, the Korean War, Vietnam, the New Deal, the Great Society and countless other local, state and federal government programs. Overall, Americans spent 30.1 percent of the years between 1900 and 1999 working to pay Uncle Sam as well as state and local governments. As shown below, the exact moment of “tax freedom” last century fell around noon on February 5th, 1931. With the powers of compounding, it is astonishing to think today of what a small reduction or increase in that figure could have meant to the cumulative effect on national output today. “How Many Years Did the U.S. Economy Work to Pay Taxes During the 20th Century?” Year Total Taxes ($Billions) NNP ($Billions) 1900 $1 $17 1901 $1 $19 1902 $1 $20 1903 $1 $21 1904 $1 $21 1905 $1 $23 1906 $1 $26 1907 $1 $28 1908 $1 $26 1909 $2 $31 1910 $2 $33 1911 $2 $33 1912 $2 $36 1913 $2 $36 1914 $2 $36 1915 $2 $37 1916 $3 $45 1917 $3 $56 1918 $7 $70 1919 $8 $77 1920 $10 $84 1921 $9 $64 1922 $8 $68 1923 $7 $78 1924 $8 $78 1925 $8 $86 1926 $9 $89 1927 $9 $87 1928 $9 $89 1929 $10 $95 1930 $9 $83 1931 $8 $68 1932 $8 $52 1933 $9 $50 1934 $9 $59 1935 $10 $66 1936 $12 $76 1937 $14 $84 1938 $13 $78 1939 $14 $84 1940 $16 $92 1941 $23 $116 1942 $31 $149 1943 $47 $183 1944 $49 $201 1945 $51 $202 1946 $50 $200 1947 $55 $219 1948 $56 $243 1949 $53 $240 1950 $65 $266 1951 $81 $308 1952 $85 $325 1953 $90 $344 1954 $85 $343 1955 $96 $375 1956 $103 $394 1957 $108 $414 1958 $107 $418 1959 $121 $456 1960 $130 $474 1961 $134 $491 1962 $145 $531 1963 $156 $560 1964 $160 $604 1965 $173 $655 1966 $195 $717 1967 $209 $757 1968 $242 $828 1969 $273 $893 1970 $276 $938 1971 $292 $1,020 1972 $333 $1,120 1973 $375 $1,256 1974 $414 $1,353 1975 $424 $1,464 1976 $485 $1,637 1977 $544 $1,821 1978 $616 $2,054 1979 $691 $2,295 1980 $752 $2,481 1981 $860 $2,773 1982 $869 $2,865 1983 $920 $3,130 1984 $1,021 $3,497 1985 $1,106 $3,740 1986 $1,173 $3,949 1987 $1,289 $4,195 1988 $1,381 $4,530 1989 $1,495 $4,866 1990 $1,572 $5,155 1991 $1,611 $5,300 1992 $1,695 $5,616 1993 $1,796 $5,913 1994 $1,934 $6,265 1995 $2,050 $6,555 1996 $2,197 $6,934 1997 $2,368 $7,363 1998 $2,536 $7,738 1999 $2,698 $8,201 Total $39,196 $130,227 Here is the breakdown of America’s total tax burden for the full 20th Century: Total taxes as a percentage of national income: 30.1 percent Number of days in the 20th Century required to pay total taxes: 10,986 days Number of years in the 20th Century required to pay total taxes: 30.1 years Exact date and time of “tax freedom” for the 20 th Century: 12:00pm , February 5, 1931 Judging from the tax burden of last century—when overall spending was far lower than that of current governments—we’ve likely got a long way to go until “tax freedom” in the 21st century. For more on the official Tax Freedom Day, see here.
