Tax Freedom Day - Tuesday 31st May 2005

According to the folks at the Adam Smith Institute (ASI), today is the day when we switch from paying all we earn to the Government and instead get to keep it for ourselves. Apparently it's three days later than last year. As the ASI blog has it:

The mediaeval Scots laird took 33 percent of the peasant’s produce after a third went for seed and a third for consumption. Ane tae saw, ane tae gnaw, and ane tae pay the laird withaw. Our Chancellor takes an even more rapacious 40 percent. Have a good day.

In an effort to maintain some degree of impartiality here, however, it behooves me to observe that it has, again according to the ASI, been as late as 15th June (in 1982) during the Conservative years in power, and during the period since 1997 (since Labour took over) it was as late as 4th June in 2001!

As I had a couple of glasses of champagne yesterday, at a wine tasting in the evening, I won't be opening another bottle tonight; I'll leave that for later in the week, when it'll be my birthday. Cheers!