As tax day has come and gone, have you ever wondered what Uncle Sam will do with those tax dollars? How will the government allocate your contribution to the overall budget? Recent research shows that tax dollars are divided a number of different ways.
Your Social Security payments are easy; they go to pay Social Security benefits to current retirees, and for now, they fully fund that obligation. (The future is another matter.) Some of that money also goes to cover a portion of Medicare’s expenses; the remainder is covered by general federal revenue.
Your income taxes are divided among several broad budgetary categories. A portion is spent on the military (27%) and military-related veteran’s benefits (5.1%). Another 22.7% goes to various forms of healthcare for U.S. residents, including the rest of the Medicare bill plus Medicaid. Another 13.9% of your tax money goes to pay interest on the country’s debt–paid out to Treasury bill and bond holders every six months. And unemployment benefits take up another 9.8%.
In the “miscellaneous” category for government spending, only 4.5% is spent on day-to-day operation of the government, including various agencies such as the FBI and immigration services. A total of 4% goes to housing programs, community development and block grants. And education gets 2% –for programs like Head Start, and also the Pell Grants for college students. Less than 2% is spent on scientific research, international affairs, transportation and energy.
Written by Bob Veres of Inside Information
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/11/pf/taxes/how-federal-income-taxes-are-spent/index.html