April 18, 2011 12:00 am

Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go?

Ever wonder how the federal government spends what you pay in income taxes? Now you can get a general idea by using a calculator (www.whitehouse.gov/issues/taxes/tax-receipt) from the White House called Your 2010 Federal Taxpayer Receipt. Just plug in what you paid for income taxes, Social Security taxes, and Medicare taxes (or, if you don’t know, choose an income level) and then see a breakdown of how your payments are applied.

Using the calculator, you will see, among other things, that 26.3% of income tax dollars goes to defense, 24.3% to health care, and 0.4% to responses to natural disasters.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/taxes/tax-receipt

 

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Tax Glossary

Archer Medical Savings Account (MSA)

A type of medical plan combining high deductible medical insurance protection with an IRA-type savings account fund to pay unreimbursed medical expenses.

More terms