UK Tax Freedom Clock Widget, v2.0 (2008)
Each year, since 1991, the Adam Smith Institute has published a report, in which they have calculated the date on which the average British taxpayer stops working for the Chancellor and starts working for himself. For obvious reasons, this date is referred to as UK Tax Freedom Day.
Several years ago, we at ActionAmerica.org created the US Tax Freedom Day Clock and for the time being, that was where it ended. But since that time, two things happened that led to this widget.
To begin with, our editor and publisher learned first hand, just how much worse taxes are in the UK, as he lived in London (Pimlico) for most of 2007 and part of 2008. Besides paying UK income tax, his family found that due almost exclusively to taxes, gasoline is well over twice as much as in the USA and that the VAT tax, collected at every level of manufacture and shipping makes everything much more expensive than need be. But it didn't stop there. In London, they even charge a tax for driving.
Mr Gaver also made a number of friends in England and in Scotland (Duftown).
The second thing that led to this widget was the creation, earlier this month, of the US Tax Freedom Clock Widget.
As a favor to some of our new friends in the UK, ActionAmerica.org decided to design a version of the Tax Freedom Clock Widget, specifically for use by taxpayers in the United Kingdom.
The UK Tax Freedom Clock Widget counts down the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds till the next UK Tax Freedom Day or if UK Tax Freedom Day has passed, the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds that you have actually been earning your own money, since the occurrence of UK Tax Freedom Day.
This is a live clock. That means that the UK Tax Freedom Clock will update not only when the Dashboard is opened, but will continue to update, as long as the Dashboard is left open (to save CPU cycles, it is inactive when Dashboard is closed).
We wanted you to be able to actually watch the UK Tax Freedom Clock count down, which is why we have gone all the way to seconds.
We find that actually watching the clock, ever so slowly count down to Tax Freedom, seems to emphasize the seriousness of the problem with out-of-control taxes. In fact, we have been told that watching the time to Tax Freedom tick by so slowly, frustrates or even angers many people, as it makes folks realize just how much of their hard work goes to line someone else's pocket. Some have even suggested that doing it that way borders on being sadistic. Our response is that it is much less sadistic than your own government demanding that you work for almost half of every year, for them.
This widget will automatically update itself, from the internet, to use the latest Tax Freedom Day data each year, when the new data becomes available. It checks for the updated data each time the widget is opened or displayed. It also resets itself the first time that is viewed, after each new year.
We would like to point out that, as Americans, we are reminded of the annual changes in the US Tax Freedom Day, while keeping up with the UK Tax Freedom Day requires regular monitoring of the Adam Smith Institute site. I mention this because, we don't have any idea what time of year the Adam Smith Institute makes their annual announcement. So, while we will do our best to update the UK Tax Freedom Day date file that this widget uses, as soon as the Adam Smith Institute announces the new date, we might not be made aware of the change, right away.
If you notice that our UK Tax Freedom Clock is still using last year's date, after the new date has been announced, please use our feedback form to contact us and let us know. It only takes a moment for us to update the data file.
The Adam Smith Institute uses the most unbiased method possible for calculating the UK Tax Freedom Day. As you can see below, it is very straight forward:
Dividing the total of all national and local UK taxes, by the UK Net National Income (NNI), gives us the average percentage of annual income that goes to taxes and similarly the percentage of the year that you have to work for the government, to pay those taxes. Take that percentage and multiply it by the number of days in the year and you know how many days you have to work to pay your taxes for that year. Check out the Adam Smith Institute site for more information on these calculations.
Our UK Tax Freedom Day Clock converts that number of days to a date and time and counts down to that time.
Initially, for 2008/2009, our UK Tax Freedom Clock using the date calculated by the Adam Smith Institute for 2008, which is June 2. As mentioned above, the UK Tax Freedom Clock will automatically update itself as soon as the data for 2009 becomes available and is posted on the internet.
Think about that. June 2nd. That's like working almost half of every day, for which you will NOT get paid.
So the question that you must ask yourself is, "Are the services that I receive from Her Majesty's Government worth almost half my work days, each year?"
Or, to put it another way, "Are the services that I receive from the Her Majesty's Government worth roughly half of my working life?"
How many of those lost days at work went to line the pockets of a bureaucrat or government contractor? Would you have spent any of your hard-earned money on most of those projects? Couldn't you provide or purchase many of those government services for yourself, for much less money and have more left over to improve your lifestyle? Are you getting a fair return in services, from the government, for all that work that you do for them? Think about it...
UK Tax Freedom Day is exactly what the name implies. It's the day on which the money that you earn actually begins to benefit you and not the government.
We want to thank our friends at the Adam Smith Institute for their annual efforts to bring this information to the citizens of the UK. If you have not visited their site, we encourage you to do so. You may be surprised at what you will learn.
Incidentally, you might be interested to learn that the 2008 US Tax Freedom Day was April 23. But, don't despair that you have to work so much longer than Americans, to pay your taxes. It's expected that in the next few years, the gap between UK and US taxes will be substantially reduced. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Brits will pay less taxes, but rather, that Barack Obama will significantly raise US taxes.
Note: On our US Tax Freedom Clock, we have occasionally had people contact us, early in the year, telling us that our clock is off by one hour. The clock has, in each case, been accurate. We want to remind our readers, who might want to check our calculations, not to forget that there is a one hour time change, between January 1 and UK Tax Freedom Day. Our clock counts down actual hours, rather than adjusted hours.
However, if you do think that you see an error in the clock, please don't hesitate to contact us. After all, this is the first version of this widget. Although we have tested this widget thoroughly, being an essentially new product means that there could be a minor glitch that we missed, in testing.
For more information on how this high taxation affects us all and what can be done to improve matters, read our article The Economy Bomb - Ticking Down Faster. Although written for a US audience, most of what is discussed in that article applies to the UK, as well. In fact, since the UK suffers under much higher taxes, parts of that article apply even more to the UK.
While you are there, check out our other widgets, too.
Each year, since 1991, the Adam Smith Institute has published a report, in which they have calculated the date on which the average British taxpayer stops working for the Chancellor and starts working for himself. For obvious reasons, this date is referred to as UK Tax Freedom Day.
Several years ago, we at ActionAmerica.org created the US Tax Freedom Day Clock and for the time being, that was where it ended. But since that time, two things happened that led to this widget.
To begin with, our editor and publisher learned first hand, just how much worse taxes are in the UK, as he lived in London (Pimlico) for most of 2007 and part of 2008. Besides paying UK income tax, his family found that due almost exclusively to taxes, gasoline is well over twice as much as in the USA and that the VAT tax, collected at every level of manufacture and shipping makes everything much more expensive than need be. But it didn't stop there. In London, they even charge a tax for driving.
Mr Gaver also made a number of friends in England and in Scotland (Duftown).
The second thing that led to this widget was the creation, earlier this month, of the US Tax Freedom Clock Widget.
As a favor to some of our new friends in the UK, ActionAmerica.org decided to design a version of the Tax Freedom Clock Widget, specifically for use by taxpayers in the United Kingdom.
The UK Tax Freedom Clock Widget counts down the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds till the next UK Tax Freedom Day or if UK Tax Freedom Day has passed, the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds that you have actually been earning your own money, since the occurrence of UK Tax Freedom Day.
This is a live clock. That means that the UK Tax Freedom Clock will update not only when the Dashboard is opened, but will continue to update, as long as the Dashboard is left open (to save CPU cycles, it is inactive when Dashboard is closed).
We wanted you to be able to actually watch the UK Tax Freedom Clock count down, which is why we have gone all the way to seconds.
We find that actually watching the clock, ever so slowly count down to Tax Freedom, seems to emphasize the seriousness of the problem with out-of-control taxes. In fact, we have been told that watching the time to Tax Freedom tick by so slowly, frustrates or even angers many people, as it makes folks realize just how much of their hard work goes to line someone else's pocket. Some have even suggested that doing it that way borders on being sadistic. Our response is that it is much less sadistic than your own government demanding that you work for almost half of every year, for them.
This widget will automatically update itself, from the internet, to use the latest Tax Freedom Day data each year, when the new data becomes available. It checks for the updated data each time the widget is opened or displayed. It also resets itself the first time that is viewed, after each new year.
We would like to point out that, as Americans, we are reminded of the annual changes in the US Tax Freedom Day, while keeping up with the UK Tax Freedom Day requires regular monitoring of the Adam Smith Institute site. I mention this because, we don't have any idea what time of year the Adam Smith Institute makes their annual announcement. So, while we will do our best to update the UK Tax Freedom Day date file that this widget uses, as soon as the Adam Smith Institute announces the new date, we might not be made aware of the change, right away.
If you notice that our UK Tax Freedom Clock is still using last year's date, after the new date has been announced, please use our feedback form to contact us and let us know. It only takes a moment for us to update the data file.
The Adam Smith Institute uses the most unbiased method possible for calculating the UK Tax Freedom Day. As you can see below, it is very straight forward:
| Total taxes | x | 365 (or 366) days |
= | Days to TF Day |
|
|
||||
| NNI* |
Dividing the total of all national and local UK taxes, by the UK Net National Income (NNI), gives us the average percentage of annual income that goes to taxes and similarly the percentage of the year that you have to work for the government, to pay those taxes. Take that percentage and multiply it by the number of days in the year and you know how many days you have to work to pay your taxes for that year. Check out the Adam Smith Institute site for more information on these calculations.
Our UK Tax Freedom Day Clock converts that number of days to a date and time and counts down to that time.
Initially, for 2008/2009, our UK Tax Freedom Clock using the date calculated by the Adam Smith Institute for 2008, which is June 2. As mentioned above, the UK Tax Freedom Clock will automatically update itself as soon as the data for 2009 becomes available and is posted on the internet.
Think about that. June 2nd. That's like working almost half of every day, for which you will NOT get paid.
So the question that you must ask yourself is, "Are the services that I receive from Her Majesty's Government worth almost half my work days, each year?"
Or, to put it another way, "Are the services that I receive from the Her Majesty's Government worth roughly half of my working life?"
How many of those lost days at work went to line the pockets of a bureaucrat or government contractor? Would you have spent any of your hard-earned money on most of those projects? Couldn't you provide or purchase many of those government services for yourself, for much less money and have more left over to improve your lifestyle? Are you getting a fair return in services, from the government, for all that work that you do for them? Think about it...
UK Tax Freedom Day is exactly what the name implies. It's the day on which the money that you earn actually begins to benefit you and not the government.
We want to thank our friends at the Adam Smith Institute for their annual efforts to bring this information to the citizens of the UK. If you have not visited their site, we encourage you to do so. You may be surprised at what you will learn.
Incidentally, you might be interested to learn that the 2008 US Tax Freedom Day was April 23. But, don't despair that you have to work so much longer than Americans, to pay your taxes. It's expected that in the next few years, the gap between UK and US taxes will be substantially reduced. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Brits will pay less taxes, but rather, that Barack Obama will significantly raise US taxes.
Note: On our US Tax Freedom Clock, we have occasionally had people contact us, early in the year, telling us that our clock is off by one hour. The clock has, in each case, been accurate. We want to remind our readers, who might want to check our calculations, not to forget that there is a one hour time change, between January 1 and UK Tax Freedom Day. Our clock counts down actual hours, rather than adjusted hours.
However, if you do think that you see an error in the clock, please don't hesitate to contact us. After all, this is the first version of this widget. Although we have tested this widget thoroughly, being an essentially new product means that there could be a minor glitch that we missed, in testing.
For more information on how this high taxation affects us all and what can be done to improve matters, read our article The Economy Bomb - Ticking Down Faster. Although written for a US audience, most of what is discussed in that article applies to the UK, as well. In fact, since the UK suffers under much higher taxes, parts of that article apply even more to the UK.
While you are there, check out our other widgets, too.
