Actually, Uncle Sam is in the money, thanks to our recent tax filings.
The Treasury Department announced today that on April 24, the government set a one-day record for collections of personal income tax.
$48.7 billion in tax receipts from individuals was recorded yesterday. The amount reflects taxes that weren’t withheld from individuals over the course
of the year, but were paid to the government before this year’s April 17 filing deadline.
Much of the record cash collection, say tax experts, came from money owed on income
from investments or profits from sales of those holdings. That’s what happened to the hubby and me this tax season.
Although we didn’t get all our all due taxes in before tax day, the reason we owed anything was because our stock funds did quite well. And although we didn’t actually "get" any of those earnings — we automatically reinvest them in the accounts — we still had to pay taxes on them.
I’m not complaining; well, not very much. I hate that our earnings increased our 2006 tax liability. But I definitely would rather have our investments do well and owe Uncle Sam now than have them stink and the hubby and I have to struggle through a cash-strapped retirement.
Mo’ money: The previous single-day tax collection record was $36.4 billion, set almost exactly a year ago, on April 25, 2006.
Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP in Jersey City, N.J., told Reuters that yesterday’s one-day total is a small fraction of the estimated $2.5 trillion in overall tax receipts the government is likely to collect in fiscal 2007.
