The IRS has pushed the start of tax filing season back to Jan. 30.
Federal income taxes represent only a portion of the tax liability Americans face. There's state income taxes, local property taxes and sales tax. Not to mention fees – like renewing your vehicle registration – that really are taxes.
And of course, there are the taxes we pay before we receive our pay checks: Payroll taxes that support programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
Earlier this year, most Americans were spared a federal income tax rate increase when President Obama and Congress struck a deal on the fiscal cliff. The tax rate on income earned above $450,000 did rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent.
Despite the deal, most every American saw payroll taxes rise. The payroll tax was lowered in 2011 as part of recession relief. The payroll tax rate went from 4.2 percent back to 6.2 percent this year, CNN reported.
Although most Americans probably feel like taxes have never been higher, an analysis by the New York Times found that the tax burden for every income group declined between 1980 and 2010.
The New York Times looked at state, local and federal taxes in calculating each income group's tax burden. Although the newspaper found that the tax burden was less, for most Americans now compared to 30 years ago, the anaylsis found that "[h]ouseholds earning more than $200,000 benefited from the largest percentage declines in total taxation as a share of income."