According to the Lithuanian Free Market Institute’s (LFMI) annual calculations, Tax Freedom Day in Lithuania is receding and will fall as late as on May 8 this year. In 2004 the average Lithuanian taxpayer will have to work 128 days to pay the total tax bill imposed by all levels of government.

The Tax Freedom Day is a symbolic day in the year when the average income earner stops handing over all his income to the government, and begins to make money for himself. It is an indicator of the tax burden in relative terms which shows what portion of the value created by the people is taken by the government to be distributed through the national budget and non-budget funds. LFMI calculates the tax burden as the ratio of total tax revenues to net national product (NNP).

This year Tax Freedom Day arrives even six days later than in 2003. This increase in the tax burden was determined by total tax revenues which were nearly 2 billion litas bigger as compared to the year before. Another reason was a sluggish NNP growth due to sizeable capital consumption and markedly increased negative net income. The tax burden, calculated as the ratio of total tax revenues to NNP, will account for 35 percent in 2004, as compared to 33.3 percent in 2003.

LFMI started the tradition of commemorating Tax Freedom Day in Lithuania in 1993. Since 1993, when the Lithuanian taxpayers turned to the government everything they earned until April 13, Tax Freedom Day has moved later in the calendar. Starting from 2001, Tax Freedom Day came earlier every year: on May 15 in 2001, on May 4 in 2002 and on May 3 in 2003.