Every one of us pay taxes daily and yet only a few could tell how much exactly they pay in taxes per month or per year. The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) presents you a new tax calculator, which will not only allow you to see how much you pay in taxes but also show how their money is then spent. You can access the tax-calculator at www.mokumokescius.lt.
“With the “Moku mokesčius” (“I pay the taxes”) initiative, we want to familiarize the Lithuanian taxpayers with how much they pay in taxes and allow them to see for what the government uses their money. We are doing this because, even though we all are taxpayers, we seldom pay them directly and rarely know, how much we actually pay. Our salaries are given to us with all the taxes already paid by our employers, we see the goods in stores with the value-added tax (VAT) already calculated into the final price, we purchase gas with both VAT and excise tax already added. Our tax-calculator will show all the taxes paid clearly and simply. We predict the results to be quite suprising to many”, explains Kaetana Leontjeva, senior expert at LFMI.
For example, a person earning the minimum monthly wage pay 5600 Litas in taxes each year. The employee and employer “Sodra” contributions comprise 3718 Litas of all taxes paid, compulsory health insurance contributions – 1080 Litas, income tax – 774 Litas, contributions to the Guarantee fund – 24 Litas.
“Average taxpayer never sees all of the taxes he or she pays, because the money never even enters his or her account – it is the employer who pays the taxes. It is also important to note, that some of the taxes are referred to as ‘employer taxes’, even though economically speaking, the employee is the one paying them. Analogically, when we are shopping, we do not even realize the amount we pay in taxes as they are calculated into the final price of a good. When we are complaining about high prices, we should really be angry about excessive consumer taxes”, claims Ms. Leontjeva.
According to calculations, if one’s expenditure for the basic goods and services accounts to 1700 Litas per month, one pays 3540 Litas in VAT. For 300 Litas spent on gas each month, one pays 1800 Litas in excise taxes alone.
“Not only the amount we pay in taxes is important – it is crucial to know how the government spends our money. At www.mokumokescius.lt you will find a personalized bill for the taxes paid in 2014. You will see how much of what you paid went to state pensions, how much – to healthcare, to education, to the police, to the national defense, etc.”, elaborates the expert.
By putting in the information about their income and purchases for basic, excise, and subsidized goods, the Lithuanian taxpayers will see how much they pay on a monthly and a yearly basis. They will also see how much from what they paid went to specific governmental budget branches in 2014.
LFMI, by introducing the educational initiative “I pay the taxes”, aims to conveniently and clearly inform the Lithuanian citizens about how much they pay in taxes, and how their money is used.
Initiative partner:
