T-Day (Tax Freedom Day)

I just recently finished my taxes so I felt compelled to write about tax freedom day.  I don't know how they calculate it but it sounds like its pretty well accepted in many circles.  I believe the Frasier Institute even has a calculator that you can use to calculate family specific scenarios.

Tax freedom day is essentially the last day that you work for free.  In Canada, the date is estimated in early June.  That means we work a complete 5 months for nothing...
All of that money gets taken up by some form of taxation : federal, provincial, gst, pst, hst, you name it.  Anything you make after that is yours to keep. 

At first it seems absurd, but then when you consider how much of a nanny state we have, I think it makes perfect sense and isn't all that unbelievable.  But just because I'm not surprised, doesn't mean I don't think it is completely grotesque.  I would love to know how much of our taxes goes towards obligations such as old age security and welfare (something government shouldn't be involved in).  We know government spends poorly, it's essentially a given.  The principle of the matter is even worse though; Government shouldn't take what is yours to give to others, however "just" it may seem.  Freedom requires a voluntary transfer of money, not a forced transfer through taxation.    

I know there are some services that are more essential in the provinces such as police, snow removal and highway maintenance, but I have a hard time believing it takes nearly 50% of my earnings to pay for the essential services that I require.  I would love to sit down with a list of the services the federal and provincial government provide me or others and see how many are actually essential.  Let me pay for as many of them as possible on the free market as I need them.

I have many problems with our tax code that I will use future posts for; such as the aspects of social engineering; flat vs progressive rate, and the expenditures on the nanny state. 

The problem with taxes is that the government essentially owns our salary, we are allowed to keep a portion of it, and they will spend our taxed portion as they see fit.  We should own the fruits of our labour.