Americans on average spent more of their income on taxes than they did on food and clothing combined in 2016, data has revealed.
An average ‘consumer unit’ – or a financially independent family or individual – spent $10,489 on federal, state, and local taxes compared to spending $1,803 on clothing and $7,203 on food last year.
Information on the spending habits of an average ‘consumer unit’ was released by The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this week.
An average ‘consumer unit’ – or a financially independent family or individual – spent $10,489 on federal, state, and local taxes compared to spending $1,803 on clothing and $7,203 on food last year
In the 2016 survey, there were 129,549,000 ‘consumer units’ in the United States.
The average before-tax income of a consumer unit was $74,664.
That average consumer paid $10,489 in personal taxes, which included $8,367 in federal income taxes, $2,046 in state and local income taxes, and $75 in other taxes.
The amount of taxes paid by Americans also increased from 2013 to 2016, BLS revealed.
Personal taxes went up an average of 41 per cent from $7,423 to $10,489 for local, state and federal taxes.
The income data was released by the BLS as President Donald Trump pressed Congress to pass his tax reform.
Trump told a crowd in Springfield, Missouri, on Wednesday that his vision for re-writing the tax system, a key campaign pledge, would unlock stronger economic growth and benefit companies and workers alike.
He promised it would be ‘pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker and pro-American.’
True to form for the president, Trump dangled the prospect of the ‘biggest ever’ tax cut and warned that without it, ‘jobs in our country cannot take off the way they should. And it could be much worse than that’.
Trump, who rarely travels to promote his policy agenda, chose to debut his tax overhaul pitch before employees at a manufacturing plant in Springfield, Missouri, a community known as the birthplace of Route 66, one of the nation’s original highways, and one known as America’s Main Street.
The income data was released by the BLS as President Donald Trump pressed Congress to pass his tax reform
‘This is where America’s Main Street will begin its big, beautiful comeback,’ the president declared.
After eight months without any major legislative victories and after a significant defeat on health care, Trump and Republican congressional leaders face mounting pressure to notch some significant achievements before next year’s midterm elections. But the tax overhaul effort already is facing political headwinds.
The White House and Republican lawmakers have not finalized details of the plan, and the push comes as Congress returns to face an intense September workload filled with must-do items such as raising the debt limit, funding the government and providing assistance for the Harvey recovery effort.
While the White House has been designing a tax plan aimed at appealing to Republicans, Trump sought to cast the effort in bipartisan terms. He called on members of both parties to work with him on a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real tax reform for everyday hard-working Americans.’
‘I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done – and I don’t want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand?’ Trump said. ‘Do you understand? Congress. I think Congress is going to make a comeback.’
Even before Trump took the stage, Democrats eagerly laid down their own markers for what the tax plan should look like.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outlined a series of conditions, telling reporters the tax cuts should not go to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. He added that the plan should not increase the budget deficit and should be written by both parties – not just Republicans like the GOP’s failed health care effort.
Despite what Americans spend on taxes yearly, the US government has run a deficit almost every year ince 1970. The current national debt is approximately £20trillion.