If you’re like me, you’re spending most of today surrounded by turkey, family, football – and if you’re lucky, pie.
You’re probably not thinking about taxes. But tax geeks like me are. And lucky for us, there are even tax geekier folks out there – like those at Minnesota-based Convey Compliance Systems – who spend time calculating all kinds of tax data. This year, Convey figures that the average Thanksgiving dinner, including beer, wine, travel, and food, costs Americans $3.6 billion in Thanksgiving taxes.
Taxes account for more than one-third of the expenses associated with Thanksgiving dinner, according to Convey. The total cost for a ten-person meal works out to be $49.20 – up nearly $6.00 from last year. Of that amount, the government takes a whopping $13.68. So, despite Aunt Matilda’s deathly boring speeches and Cousin Ralph’s unfortunate dribbling issue, it’s Uncle Sam who’s the real spoiler.
You can see Convey’s nifty infographic here.
But don’t let the tax picture leave a bad taste in your mouth. Enjoy the day. Wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving!
