I Get Taxed for What!?

It's tax time and that means extra money to start the year off with! Woohoo! I got curious to see where my tax money that I didn't get back went to. Here is what I found.

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:

Social Security             $1,040.70

Medicare      $625.51

Medicaid       $385.28

Interest on the national debt   $287.03

Combat Op in Iraq/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

IRS $17.69

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

Interesting......very interesting.