Florida's "Tax Freedom Day"

The St. Petersburg Times' Christina Rexrode reports on the latest 'Tax Freedom Day" report from the Washington-based Tax Foundation:

Even without a state income tax, Floridians still bear the 12th heaviest tax burden in the country. Florida's Tax Freedom Day - the point in the year when residents have earned enough to pay off tax obligations - will come May 2 this year, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation states in a report released today.

So what should we think of these numbers? It's always nice to get a little outside input to keep things balanced. But the impartial expert in Rexrode's story is... the Tax Foundation's Curtis Dubay. Dubay's quotes are good, and put some meat on the bones of the story: Dubay notes that a growth in the high-income population of Florida is probably a big driver in this result, and that Florida's own tax structure has relatively little to do with its ranking among the states.

But there's more to know here. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has taken on the thankless task of reminding policymakers and the media why the "tax freedom day" concept is not that useful in describing the impact of taxes on your average family. It would be nice if the Times gave even a brief nod to the CBPP's substantive criticisms of the "tax freedom day" concept.

Check out the CBPP report here.