Americans are spending more money on taxes than food, clothing and healthcare combined. This new information comes from the 2018 Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The survey found the Average American unit, which consists of both shared and single households, spent an average of $2,000 on federal income taxes last year. Americans also spent an average of $5,000 on Social Security, more than $2,000 on state and local taxes, and another $2,000 for property taxes.
When comparing the total cost of taxes with the average cost of food, clothing and healthcare, the survey found that taxes cost about $3,000 more. President Trump unveiled a tax plan earlier this year that aims to alleviate some of these costs.
“We promised that these tax cuts would be rocket fuel for the American economy, and we were absolutely right,” said the president. “More than six million American jobs received pay raises — that really is a great thing.”
According to the White House, the president’s tax cuts help medium and low-income families by providing pay raises to more than six million workers and creating six million additional jobs. These families can also get double the tax credit per qualified child.
The law also helps low-income neighborhoods by creating “opportunity zones,” which encourage companies to offer long-term investments in an area in exchange for tax deductions from the government.
“We’re having tremendous success in the inner cities because of the opportunity zones,” President Trump said. “Criminal justice reform — I was the one that got it.”
Officials say these zones will generate about $100 billion in private capital investment.