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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

PA: Where are Your Federal Tax Dollars Going?

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Wednesday, April 15, 2015   

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Taxes are top of mind for many Pennsylvanians with today's tax-filing deadline, and a new analysis examines where exactly federal income tax dollars are going.

The National Priorities Project crunched the numbers, and research director Lindsay Koshgarian said out of every federal income tax dollar paid in 2014, 27 cents went to the military, 26 cents went to health programs and 15 cents went to interest on the federal debt.

"What that means is that there's not a ton of money left over for everything else," she said. "That's well more than half of every tax dollar goes to pay for those three things. So, when you get down to something like education spending - you're spending two and a half cents of each dollar you pay on education."

The National Priorities Project shows eight cents was spent on unemployment and labor and five cents on veterans' benefits, which Koshgarian said left the remaining pennies for things such as food, agriculture, transportation, housing and programs involving energy and the environment.

The typical taxpayer in Pennsylvania paid an average of about $8,500 in various federal income taxes in 2013, which is close to the national average. Almost half of all federal revenue comes from individual income taxes.

Another piece the group examined is the government's complex system of tax breaks. Koshgarian said they're worth a lot.

"The amount that the government spends on tax breaks in giving money back to folks who pay taxes is actually bigger than what we spend in the federal budget each year on all of these programs, like the military and education, combined," she said.

According to the analysis, 10 of the largest tax breaks in 2013 overwhelmingly benefited the top 1 percent of households.

The analysis is online at nationalpriorities.org. Federal tax statistics are here.


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