President Obama marked Tax Day on Monday by directing taxpayers to an online tool that shows them how their tax dollars are being divided among broad categories of federal spending such as education and defense.
By using the link at www.Whitehouse.gov/2012-taxreceipt, taxpayers can enter the amount of taxes they paid in the past year, and the tool will calculate how much of those taxes went to various federal agencies and services.
For example, if a taxpayer paid $112,000 in income taxes in 2012, as did Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, they’d discover that $27,596 of their tax dollars went to the Defense Department and $5,073 funded veterans’ benefits. The Obamas paid $8,971 for interest on the national debt, and $2,296 for immigration services, law enforcement and the administration of justice.
However, the online tool doesn’t get too specific. For example, it doesn’t tell you how much of your taxes paid for loan guarantees for failed solar-energy companies, or for fraudulent Medicare payments, or for security for the now-canceled White House public tours that the president said his administration can no longer afford.
Mr. Obama unveiled the online taxpayer tool in 2011, fulfilling a promise he made in the State of the Union address that year.
“As long as he’s in office, every hardworking taxpayer will be able to jump online to see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent,” said Colleen Curtis, the White House director of digital content.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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