Prague - All that you have earned since the start of the year until today was appropriated by the state through taxation. However, all that you earn from now on until the end of the year will be really yours.
This "good news - bad news" message was delivered today to Czech citizens by the Liberal Institute, a Czech think-tank that every year announces the symbolic "Tax Freedom Day". This year, the date was calculated by the think-tank on Wednesday 15 June. This means that in 2011, Czechs were "working for the state" for 165 days, which means three days less than last year.
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In the last decade, the date of the Tax Freedom Day has not been moving in any significant way. The symbolic date have always been calculated on 6-18 June.
The Liberal Institute uses the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data to calculate the date.
According to the OECD, South Koreans were the first to fulfill all their tax obligations in 2011 - on 14 April. On the contrary, Denmark's citizens will not get rid of their tax burden until 2 August.
The OECD average is 10 June.
However, according to Patria Finance, which uses a different methodology to calculate the date, the Czech Tax Freedom Day will take place on 20 June, on the same day as last year.
On the contrary, a foundation called New Direction, which uses Ernst & Young statistics, sets the date on 10 June.
According to Ernst & Young, Belgium has the longest "tax-paying period" (until 4 August) from all EU member states, Cyprus the shortest (until 13 March).
The New Direction data also show that the tax burden in the EU-27 is growing. The authors of the study attribute this above all to VAT hikes implemented in 13 EU member states.
