When can Czechs celebrate "Tax Freedom Day"?
On what day do Czechs begin earning for themselves? By some calculations, "Tax Freedom Day" came on the 15th of June this year, four days later than last year and nine days later than in the year 2000. Using different methodology, others calculate that Czechs will be still be "working for the government" for weeks to come.
According to calculations of an independent think-tank in Prague, the Liberal Institute, Czechs began earning for themselves on Tuesday. For his part, the chief economist of the Patria Online brokerage, David Marek, says it will come next month. Like the Liberal Institute, Mr Marek used the methodology of an American foundation that has been calculating Tax Freedom Day since the Great Depression.
"I used the methodology used in the U.S. by an institution called the Tax Foundation. This institution started to calculate Tax Freedom Day in 1929. And the methodology is quite reasonable. The main calculation is the calculation of the ratio between total tax revenues and net national income - and not with gross domestic product (GDP), it's something different. "
"And because in the Czech Republic there is increasing importance of income balance — something we should take into account when we calculate national income — so it is postponing Tax Freedom Day later and later."
When introduced in the Czech Republic in the year 2000, Tax Freedom Day fell on the 6th of June, by most calculations. In the 1930s, Czechs began earning for themselves in February.
