Where Your Taxes Go

A U.S. taxpayer earning the 2009 median income ($34,140) and paying $5,400 in federal income tax and FICA ponies up for the following, for starters:

Social Security $1040.70
Medicare $625.51
Medicaid $385.28
Interest on the national debt $287.03
Combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan $229.17
Military personnel $192.79
Veterans benefits $74.65
Federal highways $63.89
Health-care research (NIH) $46.54
Foreign aid $46.08
Education funding for low-income K-12 students $38.17
Military retirement benefits $32.60
Pell Grants for low-income college students $29.75
NASA space program $28.09
Internal Revenue Service $17.69
Environmental cleanup (EPA) $11.67
FBI $11.21
Head Start $10.91
Public housing $10.50
National parks $4.27
Drug Enforcement Administration $3.14
Amtrak $2.23
Smithsonian Museum $1.12
Funding for the arts $0.24
Salaries and benefits for members of Congress $0.19




From Feb 2011 Reader's Digest