Here’s where your tax dollars go

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MarketWatch
Robert Schroeder
04/14/2015

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The federal government spent your income-tax dollars in two big ways in 2014: on the military and on health care.

The National Priorities Project, a Massachusetts-based federal-budget research organization, took a look at federal government data and came up with the handy graphic above. It’s based on income taxes paid in fiscal 2014, which ended on Sept. 30, 2014.

About 27 cents of each tax dollar went toward defense, and nearly the same amount went to health-care programs including Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. As the graphic shows, those were the two biggest budget areas funded by income-tax dollars. Together, they made up more than half of spending fueled by income-tax receipts.

In third place: interest on the federal debt, with about 15 cents of each dollar. From there, it’s a steady downhill slide, with unemployment benefits, food and agriculture, education and other programs each accounting for a smaller amount of spending.

Some of the smallest areas of spending include international affairs, science and housing programs.

Looking toward next year, meanwhile, the federal government is on track to collect more in individual taxes than it did in fiscal 2014. The Treasury Department reported Monday that individual withheld taxes are up 5% for the 2015 fiscal year, which started Oct. 1.