Each year, most Americans refer to April 15 as Tax Day. That’s understandable given the reality that April 15 is typically the deadline for filing income tax returns, so many people use it as a target date of sorts.

Despite that practice, there is a more important date for every citizen: Tax Freedom Day. That’s the day when each of us has earned enough income to pay our tax liability to the federal and state governments. Tax Freedom Day obviously varies for each of us given the variables involved. Still, there is good work done with data analysis by the Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., that gives us insight, and the opportunity to compare tax burdens by state.

Before you continue to read, take note of the date you are actually reading this column, as well as your state of residence.

This year, Tax Freedom Day is April 23, which means the average taxpayer will work their first 113 days of 2008 for the government to cover their state and federal tax burden.

Don’t want to think of yourself as average? OK; you just might be above or below average – as a U.S. taxpayer.

Thanks to the Tax Foundation, we can look at taxpayer data by state to find the answer for you.

If you live in Colorado or Illinois, you are average in that April 23 is, this year, Tax Freedom Day for you and the average U.S. taxpayer.

But, live in any of the other 48 states, or District of Columbia, your total federal and state tax bill will be either: better, that is you pay less than the national average, which places you in the above average taxpayer category; or worse, that is you pay more than the national average, which places you in the below average taxpayer category.

Let’s hone in on your situation with some hard general facts for your personal reference:

Live in any of 39 states and you are doing better than average. Examples include: Delaware (April 14), Georgia (April 19), Iowa (April 16), New Hampshire (April 15), New Mexico (April 12), Michigan (April 16), Ohio (April 17) etc.

Live in any of the following states, and you will be doing better than 80 percent of all states. Specifically, the top 10 states, in order, for the shortest time in 2008 to Tax Freedom Day are: Alaska (March 29), Mississippi (April 7), West Virginia (April 8), Montana (April 8), Alabama (April 9), Kentucky (April 10), Oklahoma (April 11), Tennessee (April 11), North Dakota (April 12) and Texas (April 12).

If you reside in any of the aforementioned states, you are in better relative tax shape regarding federal and state taxes than taxpayers in the next groups of states. That’s good news for you and for many other readers.

Next is the not-so-good news; followed by the‘bad news.

Live in the states of Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Virginia, Florida, Hawaii and Nevada? Then, you will work a few extra days (one to three) more than the average taxpayer. While that is not good for you, it could be worse.

The states where taxpayers must work the longest before reaching Tax Freedom Day are: Minnesota (April 27), Massachusetts (April 28), Maryland (April 28), Washington (April 29), California (April 30), District of Columbia (May 3), New York (May 5), New Jersey (May 7) and Connecticut (May 8).

Taxes are necessary. How much tax is necessary for our federal government? And, how much tax is necessary for your state government? These are questions for each citizen taxpayer to consider this year?

Richard Olivastro is president of People Dynamics, an executive leadership development company, is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and founder of Citizens For Change. He can be reached at Rich@Olivastro.net.