Oh! I agree with my Congressman Jim McDermott; this happens once per decade. Let the taxpayers know where their money is going!
Americans love complaining about paying taxes. Now we can grouse about taxes with specificity -- thanks to an interactive federal taxpayer receipt rolled out by the Obama administration Friday.
The online tool delivers on Obama's pledge to show Americans just what they're buying with their tax dollars. It debuted on the same day that Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, reintroduced his bill that would codify the initiative by requiring the Internal Revenue Service to issue an annual personalized receipt to every taxpayer.
McDermott considers his legislation an antidote to widespread misunderstanding among Americans about the federal budget.
The taxpayer receipts break down spending by major federal programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the interest on the national debt. If McDermott's bill becomes law, it would entitle every taxpayer an annual paper summary of where her taxes went.
McDermott proposes listing the various federal budget outlays as a percentage of total splending. Included in the itemized expenditures would be the cost of ongoing military operations. For a hypothetical filer with $40,650 in taxable income, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan) consumed $111.76 and $97.79, respectively, of the $6,350 in total income and payroll taxes.
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