Editorial: Three old sayings to remember this tax day

This is it. The last day to file your taxes. If you're just now getting started, keep your head up. Maybe by day's end you'll be clutching a nice tax refund. Then again, if you're doing Form 1040, you're about to tackle nearly 200 pages of agony, which is a good reason to join the 90 percent of Americans who pay someone else to do their taxes.Either way, those who are 
filing today will find it an ideal time to consider how much money is needed to run our government, In doing so, there are three old sayings they may want to entertain.The first one asks, “Is the glass half full, or half empty.”For example: • Tax Freedom Day for 2012 actually arrives today, four days later than last year due to higher federal income and corporate tax collections. That means Americans will work 107 days into the year, from Jan. 1 to April 17, to earn enough money to pay this year's combined 29.2 percent federal, state, and local tax bill. We're calling that a glass half empty.• Ohio taxpayers, however, don't have it as bad as the average American. The Buckeye state celebrated Tax Freedom Day on April 12, five days earlier than the average American. Now there's a glass half full.• However, before Ohioans start celebrating, keep in mind there are 27 states that have an earlier tax freedom date than Ohio. The Buckeye State's 28th ranking puts it in the same place it finished last year and the same place it finished five years ago. Thus, Ohioans — particularly those in government — can celebrate by chanting: “We're No. 28, we're mediocre ... We're No. 28, we're mediocre ...” That's a glass half empty.The second old saying states: “Figures don't lie, but liars figure.”This is one you will want to remember now that we are in the final stages of the presidential election. Both major parties will be arguing about the fairness of the tax code.President Barack Obama argues that “if you make a million dollars a year, then you shouldn't pay a lower tax rate than your secretary.” Meanwhile, the chairman of the House and Ways Means Committee, U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., points out “the bottom half of earners in this country pay no federal income taxes.”Technically, both claims are correct. They also happen to be misleading.The wealthiest Americans indeed pay the largest share of federal income taxes. Nothing's changed there. The top 1 percent of income earners in the United States pay an average of 21 percent of their annual income in federal income and payroll taxes compared with 13.9 percent for those earning an average of $42,000 a year. That information comes from Citizens for Tax Justice, a non-profit 
organization in Washington.The same study, however, shows that when state and local taxes are included, the wealthiest 1 percent pay 29 percent of their annual income in all taxes, compared with 25 percent for those in the $42,000 range.Thus, it's time to remember the third old saying:“Beware of a half truth; you may be getting the wrong half.”