Now that tax season is over (except for those who filed for an extension), it's natural to wonder exactly where the hard-earned dollars you paid in tax over the past year actually went.
To answer that question, the White House put together a website that gives details on the government's expenditures.
Dubbed the Federal Taxpayer Receipt, you can enter in your income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes and get a personalized look at where your tax dollars got spent. Understanding that Social Security and Medicare taxes go toward funding those respective programs, here are the 10 areas where the greatest percentage of income tax revenues gets spent.
1. National defense
Nearly 25 percent of all income taxes go to pay for defense. Of that amount, salaries and benefits for members of the armed services make up roughly a quarter, while most of the remainder goes toward equipment and supplies as well as weapons, construction, and research and development.
2. Health care
About 22.5 percent of income tax revenue goes toward health care programs. The two big expenditures are for Medicare and Medicaid, but additional amounts go toward health research, food safety, and public health services and disease control. These amounts don't include the dedicated Medicare taxes that workers have withheld from their pay.
3. Income security
The government spends roughly 17 percent of income tax revenue on various programs that provide money for those in need, including retirement benefits for federal employees, food and nutritional assistance, and Supplemental Security Income. The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit are also funded from income tax revenue.
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