WHERE DO OUR TAX DOLLARS GO?

WHERE DO OUR TAX DOLLARS GO?
By Matt Fiedler

With the income-tax return filing deadline quickly approaching, taxes are near the top of many Americans’ minds. Since the government collects taxes in order to finance public services, tax season is a good time to examine where the tax dollars go.

All told, the federal government spent a bit less than $2.7 trillion dollars in fiscal year 2006, representing about one-fifth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or slightly less than the historical average for the last three decades. [1] As shown in Figure 1, about three-fifths of federal expenditures went to three areas, each of which comprised about one-fifth of the budget:

Defense and security: In 2006, some 21 percent of the budget, or $557 billion, went to pay for defense, homeland security, and security-related international activities. While more than $100 billion went to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bulk of spending in this category reflects the underlying costs of the Department of Defense and other security-related services.

Social Security: Another 21 percent of the budget, or $549 billion, went to Social Security, which provided retirement benefits averaging $964 per month to 34 million retired workers (and dependents of retirees) in the last month of fiscal year 2006. Social Security also provided survivors’ benefits to 6.6 million surviving children and spouses of deceased workers and disability benefits to 8.5 million disabled workers

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http://www.cbpp.org/4-10-07tax2.htm