Income Tax Preparation - Yes, I consider the cost of having ourtaxes prepared by a professional as a tax. If the federal taxcode was published in english, maybe more of us could prepareour own taxes.

Social Security - 15.3% of your income goes directly to thefederal government for social security and medicare and isconveniently deducted from your paycheck. The myth about youremployer paying half is just that. If you weren't required topay social security, that is another 7.65% that your employercould pay you.

Sales Taxes - Unless you live in a state that doesn't have astate sales tax, this costs you around 6% to 7% of every pennyyou spend. Wouldn't it be nice to buy something for $99.95, handthe clerk a $100 bill and get a nickle back.

Property Taxes and Real Estate Taxes - These taxes can run intothe thousands of dollars a year. I know, there are some placesyou aren't required to pay these taxes either, however, you canbet they get this money in other ways. Before you renters startsmiling, remember that your landlord has to pay these taxes.Want to guess where he gets the money?

The Other Guys Taxes - What do you mean "The Other Guys Taxes"?He can pay his own. For each item you buy, the manufacturers anddistributors have expenses like the cost of production,packaging, shipping, etc. They also have to pay taxes. Who doyou think actually winds up paying these expenses? If you buyit, you do. I have seen estimates that between 20% and 25% ofthe cost of most items is for taxes that they have to pay. Tomake a profit, all companies must pass all expenses they havealong to the consumer.

Gas Tax - With federal gasoline taxes over 18 cents per gallonand state gasoline taxes as high as 35 cents per gallon it isn'thard to see that, with the price of gas currently under a dollarin most places, over half of the cost of your gas could be goingfor taxes.

Self Employment Taxes - This is simply the way a self employedperson pays their Social Security and Medicare. They arerequired to pay 15.3% of their gross income to cover theseexpenses. These are the people that really know how much taxesthey pay. This is because they are required to write a check forthem four times a year and, if they underpaid throughout theyear, they may have to write another check on April 15th.

When you look at your budget and wonder where all of your moneyis going, you may want to consider what you are paying in taxes.There are taxpayers in this country that are paying over 50% oftheir income in one tax or another.

Here are links to a couple of other articles I've written ontaxes:

I Love That Big Tax Refundhttp://www.homemoneyhelp.com/taxrefund.html A 23% Federal SalesTax!! But Wait! http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/fedsalestax.html

I'm not trying to make a political statement here. I justbelieve that everybody should be aware of where their moneygoes. If you take a few minutes to think about it, I think youwill realize that a good percentage goes to the federal, stateand local governments.

About the author:Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The EasyWay http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage.html and editor ofThe FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher website http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. He has 25 years of experiencecounseling individuals and families concerning their personalfinances.