How Is 1US Dollar Now Divided While Paying Taxes?

Examining the federal government’s spending.

Have you ever wondered where all of your taxes end up? It is difficult to determine how all of your tax money are distributed, but there is a simple approach to figure out what is going where.

Let’s look at it.

Creating something fascinating.

The United States Bureau of Fiscal Service gives precise statistics on how your tax dollars are utilised, and Visual Capitalist has transformed the data from the fiscal year that ended September 2023 into something entertaining.

See exactly where each dollar goes.

Visual Capitalist is a visual and graphics information website that broke down how much of a single US dollar was spent on various federal programs, indicating where your federal tax dollars are going.

There are some surprises.

What may surprise you about the figures is that Social Security was the top line item in federal spending. 22% of all federal taxes are spent on Social Security rather than defence spending, which is a more headline-grabbing line item.

What is going on with military spending?

Interestingly, military spending was just the fourth-largest expense for the federal government, accounting for 13% of total spending. Prior to National Defence, Medicare and Health spending were at the top of the charts.

Other fascinating surprises.

However, there are a few more essential line items that are highly expensive and may surprise. Let’s look at the top ten federal government expenses to help you understand where your tax dollars are going.

1. Social Security.

$0.22 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

2. Health.

$0.14 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

3. Medicare.

$0.14 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

4. National Defense.

$0.13 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

5. Income Insecurity.

$0.13 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

6. Net Interest Payments.

$0.11 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

7. Veterans’ Benefits & Services.

$0.05 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

8. Transportation.

$0.02 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

9. Commerce.

$0.02 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.

10. Other.

$0.04 is the amount paid out of every $1 tax dollar.