Each year the Tax Foundation observes the so-called “Tax Freedom Day,” the day of the year when Americans have supposedly earned enough money to have fully paid all of their taxes (local, state, and federal). This year, the Tax Foundation has estimated this day will fall on April 12.

This idea is so full of holes.

First, one of the things that promoters of this day seem to forget is that freedom results from a society with good schools, safe neighborhoods and clean air and water. The freedom to pursue personal goals, to start a business, to raise a family in a good community all rest on the public systems and structures that we have built and maintained for generations. The taxes we pay secure these basic freedoms for all of us.

Second, the calculations released in the report are misleading and often misinterpreted by the media and politicians. The numbers in the report are “supposed” to be representative of a typical, middle-income family, when they are in fact a calculation of tax revenues as a share of the economy. In other words, it’s not an actual accounting of what an average family pays.

The Tax Foundation’s report also fails to account for the fact that we have a progressive income tax system. Our nation is built on the idea that those who benefit the most from our country’s upkeep should pay more. Only upper-income taxpayers pay taxes at a rate at or above the same rate as the overall level of revenues as a share of the economy. According to 2007 data from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, most Americans pay an amount smaller than the estimate given in the Tax Foundation’s report. Eighty percent of taxpayers pay less in federal taxes than the Tax Foundation’s federal tax estimate.

A more detailed analysis of the Tax Foundation’s annual report is forthcoming from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Check back here for a link to that study when it is released.