Where your tax dollars went

NPP Pressroom

Chico News & Review

04/15/2010

Where your tax dollars went Congratulations! You've managed to decode and fill out one of the most complicated tax forms in the world. You deserve a medal—or a least a refund. In the meantime, perhaps you'd like to know how the U.S. government used the tax dollars you paid in 2009. Below, courtesy of the National Priorities Project, a nonprofit that analyzes U.S. government spending, is a chart indicating how a hypothetical $10,000 would have been spent. As usual, the biggest expense is for military—$3,190, or 31.9 percent, when military-related debt (for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) is added to core military spending. The breakdown does not include Social Security or Medicare taxes or expenditures. To compute the figures for your own 2009 taxes, go to www.nationalpriorities.org/taxchart/2010. Budget category Amount Military $2,650 Health $2,010 Income Security & Labor $850 Interest on Non-military Debt $820 Housing & Community $720 Interest on Military Debt $540 Food $370 Veterans' Benefits $350 Environment, Energy & Science $250 Education $200 International Affairs $130 Transportation $130