Early Americans would roll in their graves if they heard about the upending of many of the rights and freedoms of the American Revolution that America today had so hard earned. They would be unable to make sense of all the different taxes we pay today, and especially the government’s legal right to a share of an American’s work through an income tax. There was no such labor tax for early Americans; it was inconceivable to tax someone’s personal property, which was then considered one’s job. The concept of paying one’s “fair share” did not exist until after the mid-20th century.

In general, the operating expenses of private corporations and federal, state, and county corporate municipal governments are passed on to end users (public) in the form of taxes.

Here is a partial list of the transparent and hidden taxes that are not seen. They include taxes from and on: federal and state income, county, federal and state sales, accounts receivable, alcohol, alternative minimum tax, building permits, cigarettes, corporate taxes, dog licenses, education, inheritance, excise taxes on imports, food licenses, fuel permits, gifts, hotel tax, inheritance, inventories, car rentals, IRS interest charges, IRS fines and levies, licenses, work (withholding), marriage licenses, Medicare, tax municipal state on insurance premiums, workers’ compensation and unemployment, property, RVs, self-employment, use of highways for truckers, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), telecommunications, travel, utilities, driver’s license registration vehicles, vehicle sales, boat registration, well permitting, hospitality and last but not least importantly, the hidden tax of inflation from a debt-based central banking system and all finance charges.

I’m sure I must have missed something!

While on a television show in 1981, President Reagan mentioned that 46 different taxes contributed to the price of a loaf of bread. Imagine how many more taxes have been added since then. How many taxes and fees are hidden in a plane ticket? How the cost of doing business has the effect of lowering one’s purchasing power is rarely considered, as more and different types of taxes make up the retail price you end up paying.

The retail price represents the total of the many costs of doing business. Throughout a company’s chain of events, from production to sales and marketing, labor costs weigh heavily; they are the wages, taxes, and fees imposed on the work of all employees, from the floor worker to the CEO. Materials, essential resources, and interest amounts on business loans from a business are included in the price you pay.

Americans take a beating from taxes that now seem to exponentially erode profits (personal property). “Track shift,” as it’s called, automatically moves a taxpayer into new, higher tax brackets over time. For example, in 1970, private pensions and Social Security retirement were No considered taxable income, although today they are. These types of official changes often move people to a higher income level with larger subsequent amounts due from the state and federal governments.

What if the mainstream media routinely reported the running total of what all Americans pay annually in taxes? Would you connect the dots with the direct impact this has on your personal finances, for example real disposable income and increasing reliance on credit? The addition of all taxes, transparent and not so transparent (hidden as mentioned above, initial fees and regulation costs of federal and state regulatory compliance, federal penalties (such as what British Petroleum passed on to consumers after the oil spill in the Gulf) lead this writer to the educated guess that the average American pays somewhere in the range of has cumulative 30 to 60 percent of your annual gross income in taxes, depending on your tax bracket.

Are you powerless when it comes to this topic? I do not think. Knowledge is power, and power can lead to informed action.