where do our tax dollars go? and how come we get them back?

Question

i am not complaining of course, i'm just curious b/c i don't know. can anyone tell me? any websites with this info would be greatly appreciated as well :)

Answer 1

They go to your State's and the Federal's budget. If you want to know what they do with those dollars research what this upcoming year's budget for your state and for our country is...

You get some back because depending on how you set up what to take out of your paycheck, most often they take out too much. They're just giving you back what you overpaid.

Answer 2

Start by getting in touch with your elected representatives. School Board, City Council (if applicable), County legislative arm (in Texas that would be the County Commissioner's Court - but every state is slightly different), your State legislators and your Members of Congress. They would love to help you get the information you are interested in and many times will be glad to explain it.

You can go to the Tax Foundation's website and find out about the history of taxation (In 1900, the average American paid about 5% of their earnings in taxes to support federal, state and local government. In 2000, that number was 33%. This excludes what each American would owe if they had to pay in cash the public debt for local, state and federal government.)

The Concord Coalition monitors public debt at the federal level. No one organization seems to monitor the combined public debt of all government entities or break it down the way the Tax Foundation breaks down taxation by state even - much less by local community.

Answer 3

They go to whatever government agency is responsible for collecting revenue. In the federal government's case, it would be the IRS, a bureau of the Department of Treasury.

As far as "get them back" each day you most likely use goods and services which were provided by federal funds. Highways, schools, even private businesses benefit from government spending.

Some simple yahoo searches can show you how the federal budget is broken down. Be warned, it can be nauseating.

Answer 4

taxes go to the local, state and federal government.
they usually waste a lot of your hard earned tax money and if you get a refund its only your money and just means the government took too much of your money out of your paycheck.
the government does not give you any interest on the money they take out of your paycheck so what you have done is give the government money interest free for a year. thanks from Uncle Sam. be wise and change your payroll deductions so you can get more money if your paycheck..but that's your call

Answer 5

You only get back the amount you paid over what you owed for the income you made.

Your Federal Taxes are split up this way:

28.5% goes to the military
18.7% goes to pay the interest on the debt
20.2% goes to health care
6.6% goes to income security
4.1% goes to education
3.7% goes to benefits for veterans
2.7% goes to nutrition spending
2.0% goes to housing
1.4% goes to environmental protection
.3% goes to job training
11.6% goes to all other expenses

Answer 6

Where do our tax dollars go?
Good question, I can give you my opinion, but I can't back it up with hard proof.

OK, taxes are paid to all our governments to help support
the people in one form or another.
It costs a ton of money to run a centralized government
(Constitutional Republic) such as ours.
Look at the face of government legislative(House and Senate,
who make the laws) Executive(who enforces the laws, the
President and his Administration) and the Judicial(the federal
judiciary who is charged with interpreting the laws, the US
Supreme Court)
And all its supporting agencies, down to the mail room clerk in
city hall.
All this belongs to the federal level of government.
Some of the tax dollars collected by the IRS(Internal Revenue
Service) go to the President's Cabinet Departments, such as
Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of
Education, Department of Health and Human Services,
Department of the Interior, Department of Commerce,
Department of State, Department of Labor, Attorney-General,
Department of the Treasury, Department of Homeland Security,
Department of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veteran's Affairs
Department of Agriculture

All these Departments have annual budgets they must submit to the House Ways and Means Committee, among other agencies to get final approval for funding for the next fiscal year.
All governmental agencies must operate with a budget, including
state governments as well.
Then there is the states, and all its sovereign governors, and
their governments and assemblies, organized by parliamentary
procedure, except for Louisiana,(Parishes) and Pennsylvania
which is a common-wealth state.

Now, there are local, regional/state and federal taxes that US citizens must pay in order to live their daily lives, unless you are
Ammish, Mennonite, a Quaker, or a Shaker, who don't believe
in paying taxes, but that is another matter.
The point is we have to pay gas taxes(7 tiers of tax, most of it
going to the feds and or the oil conglomerates)
In California, unless its food or medicine, everything else has a
tax burden imposed, as California is one of the highest taxed states in the US.
We pay 8.25% sales tax on every item we buy, less food and medicine.
We have highways and byways that need serious maintenance,
and our Department of Transportation (Cal-Trans) have drug
their feet on giving the travelling public smooth highways to
drive on, ours is next to Mississippi in quality and efficiency.

All taxes, in theory, are supposed to go back to help the American
people in some way, and there supposedly is a partnership
that exists between our state and the federal government, thats why they(the feds) have been tapped for money regarding
public transportation projects, which I think they should help.
But, in reality I see different things happening rather than the
making the desired effect occur.

Overcharging on pharmacy prescriptions is another hot issue
tied to all the taxes we pay, because the government has never come up with a fair and reasonable plan to take the terrible
burden of the cost of medications off the backs of middle class
senior citizens who can still work part time.
There should be a form of a national health insurance program
in place, to aid all those who have to choose medications or food, but not both. (President Nixon had a program on his back
burner, but had to resign his office before implementation.)

To summarize, most or all of our tax monies go to pay hidden
fees and charges that you don't see at point of purchase.
I surmise that most of us pay out at least 33and one third %
of all earned income, and the hidden fees drive the payouts upwards to 66and two thirds% in actual out of pocket expense,
thats something none of the retailers want you to think about,
because you may think twice before buying that next Ipod, MP3, or PDA, or even a big screen plasma TV.

And as far as the banks are concernered, they are getting away with charging some of their depositors over 23 % APR, if they
have to carry over a depositors account, from one month to the next.
This feature is stigmatic with all credit cards, unless you are vigilant and alert, these banks will rip you off, and you won't even know it, you should adopt a COD practice on all your consumer
materials, as its too easy to buy now, pay later, thats what all the advertisers want you to do, thats why there is so much money in TV advertising, most of their people don't even own a TV set!

I'll leave you with this, wasn't it Patrick Henry who said "Taxation
without representation is tyranny" Well, we may have been better
off being governed by the redcoats, because we are doing the same thing to ourselves.

Thats my message, good luck.



Donald H. Sites
[e-mail]

Answer 7

How old are you? Each stat taxes go toward repairing roads disability, welfare take care our handicap,elderly pay our police ambulance , Teachers government, your mayor president any elective office we pay their salary.