This assumes this family example contributes 2 percent of their wage income to a 401(k) or IRA, does not itemize, claims the Saver's Credit, and Making Work Pay.
This assumes this family example contributes 2 percent of their wage income to a 401(k) or IRA, does not itemize, and claims the Saver's Credit, as well as Making Work Pay, the EITC, and the Child Tax Credit.
This assumes this family contributes 2 percent of their wage income to a 401(k) or IRA, does not itemize, and claims the Saver's Credit, as well as the Making Work Pay and Child Tax Credits.
This assumes this family contributes 5 percent of their wage income to a 401(k) or IRA, does not itemize, and claims the Making Work Pay and Child Tax Credits.
This assumes this family contributes 5 percent of their wage income to a 401(k) or IRA, does not itemize, and claims the Making Work Pay and Child Tax Credits.
Social Security Tax
Medicare Tax
How the Federal Taxpayer Receipt Amounts are Calculated
Amounts in the Federal Taxpayer Receipt are based on the percentage of overall federal spending for each category in the Fiscal Year 2011
Overall Federal Spending
The Medicare Hospital Insurance and Social Security trust funds are funded primarily with dedicated payroll taxes. Because the amount you contribute to these trust funds is readily available on your W-2 form that you get from your employer, these tax payments are shown separately on the tax receipt. There are other key federal programs paid for with dedicated funding sources independent of federal income tax payments, such as highway and mass transit spending. If the cost of these programs exceeds the amount of funding, the difference covered by your tax dollars is shown on the tax receipt.
Even including revenue from all these sources, Federal Government spending has exceeded the revenue it collects since 2002. This shortfall between revenues and spending is known as the budget deficit, and in 2011 it was $1.300 trillion. Learn more about how President Obama's budget would reduce the budget deficit at WhiteHouse.gov.
Organization of the Budget
The categories on the tax receipt are based on how the federal budget is organized. The budget is organized into 19 major functions according to the major purpose the spending serves — such as agriculture or national defense. Within these functions are more specific sub-functions. For example, in the Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services function, there are several sub-functions, including Higher Education. The full list of functions and sub-functions is available here.