The Cheat Sheet
Megan Elliott
04/29/2015
Federal government spending is closing in on $4 trillion a year, according to the National Priorities Project. A big chunk of that money comes directly from you, the taxpayer. The government gets most of its spending money via tax revenue, including $1.53 trillion via individual income taxes. Corporate income taxes, customs duties, and excise taxes are other big sources of cash for the government, as are Social Security and Medicare taxes and borrowing.
However you slice it, those numbers are almost too huge to comprehend. Whether your tax bill is large or small, it probably seems like a drop in the bucket of total government spending. So to help give people a better idea of where their tax dollars actually go, the National Priorities Project has put together a taxpayer receipt that breaks down what the government does with your money. (The White House releases its own taxpayer receipt that categorizes spending in slightly different ways.)
The results are illuminating. The average taxpayer in the U.S. paid $12,992 in federal income tax in 2014. The bulk of those dollars went to spending on the military, health programs, and interest on federal government debt. Far smaller amounts went to education, transportation, energy and environmental programs, and scientific research.
So, how much did you really pay for the military or in interest on the national debt last year? Find out below, where we’ve highlighted the seven spending areas that eat up the most of the average person’s tax bill.
