Enter a few numbers and get an itemized breakdown of the taxes you pay in a year, and what the federal government, the state, your county and your city spend them on.
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Sales tax isn't included yet.
A rough estimate to show where tax money goes, not tax advice. Your actual taxes depend on deductions, credits and other income.
Enter your income to see where your taxes go.
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Each section above lists who decides. The next step is your ballot: see who and what you'll be voting on, check your registration, and find where to vote.
See what's on your ballot ↗Tax money goes into shared pots, so no one can trace your exact dollars. Each line shows your share of what that government spends, in proportion to its budget.
Where you live: the breakdown uses one place, your main home. If you have two homes, each home's property tax goes to that home's local governments, and sales tax goes to wherever you shop. In Indiana, county income tax goes to the county you lived in on January 1.
Tax year: pick 2025 if you're using last year's tax return, or 2026 to estimate this year. The tax math uses that year's brackets, deductions and rates, including local rates that changed partway through 2025 (averaged over the year). Federal spending is that year's actual spending (the federal year runs October to September). State and local spending follows each government's current budget for both years. Budgets usually shift only a few percent from year to year.
Federal: tax brackets and standard deduction for the year you pick, including the extra deductions for people 65 and older, the child tax credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. It assumes you take the standard deduction and have no other income (like interest, dividends or capital gains) or other credits. Up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxed, depending on your other income. Self-employment income pays both halves of Social Security and Medicare tax, minus the usual deductions for it. Social Security and Medicare taxes are shown going to those programs. Refundable credits that come back to you as a refund are shown separately, not subtracted from your total. Income tax is split by what the government actually spent on everything except Social Security, which is paid from its own tax, in the federal year you pick (fiscal 2025 or 2026), by area and by program, from the U.S. Treasury's final Monthly Treasury Statement for that year. The government also borrows, so total spending is larger than taxes collected.
Gas: gas spending is turned into gallons using an average pump price for the year you pick, then taxed per gallon. Every gallon includes the 18.4-cent federal gas tax, which goes to the federal Highway Trust Fund for highway and transit grants to states. Gas isn't charged regular sales tax, so leave it out of your shopping.
Arizona: 2.5% flat income tax in both 2025 and 2026, on federal income minus Social Security (which Arizona doesn't tax), the standard deduction, the federal senior deduction and a $2,100 exemption for each person 65 or older, then minus a credit for each child under 17 ($100 for 2025, $125 for 2026). Households with low incomes also get the Increased Excise Tax Credit: $25 a person, up to $100, if federal income is $12,500 or less ($25,000 or less for married couples and heads of household). If it's more than your tax, the rest comes back as a refund. Pensions and IRA withdrawals are taxed, except military retirement, which isn't taxed at all, and up to $2,500 a person of a federal, Arizona state or Arizona local government pension. Other states' government pensions are taxed. Groceries are left out of shopping, but many Arizona cities charge their city sales tax on groceries, so city sales tax may be a little higher than shown. On November 3, 2026, voters passed Prop 316 (about 61% yes in early results): from July 2027, a city needs its voters' approval to start or raise a grocery tax, and the rate can't go over 2%. Grocery taxes cities already charge stay as they are. 18% of state income tax is shared with cities and towns. The rest is split by the state's current General Fund budget (July 2026 to June 2027), by agency and by program, from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The split of the 5.6% state sales tax between the state, counties and cities is approximate.
Cities: sales tax rates for every city and town come from the Arizona Department of Revenue. For 28 of the larger cities, the spending breakdown comes from the city's own adopted budget, mostly 2026-27; a few use an earlier year, which the page notes. Other cities and towns are split by what they actually spent, as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau: 2024 for governments in its yearly sample, otherwise its 2022 Census of Governments (the page shows the year). That split leaves out water, sewer, trash, electric and gas utilities, transit systems, airports, ports, parking and hospitals, because they're paid for mostly by user fees and fares, not taxes. Lines under 0.5% are grouped into Other services. San Tan Valley (too new), Coolidge and Fredonia still show one line. Set-aside pieces of the city sales tax (for transit, extra police and fire, parks and so on) are shown on their own lines. The rest of the city sales tax, plus the city's share of state taxes, is split by how the city's general budget is divided between departments. Most cities also budget an emergency reserve, called a contingency: money set aside for surprises like a disaster, a lawsuit or a drop in tax collections. It is shown as its own line. If the city doesn't need it, the money usually stays in savings and carries over to next year. On November 3, 2026, Tempe voted on Prop 424, which would raise Tempe's city sales tax from 1.8% to 2.3% in 2027. It was failing in early results, with about 57% no. Either way, Tempe's 2026 taxes on this page don't change.
Property tax: the split between schools, city, county and other districts is a typical Phoenix-area bill, and other parts of the state may differ. Your own bill lists the exact amounts.
Arizona gas taxes: the 18-cent state gas tax goes to the Highway User Revenue Fund, which by law gives 50.5% to state highways, 19% to counties and 30.5% to cities and towns. Average gas prices used: $3.45 a gallon for 2025 and about $4.20 for 2026.
Arizona sources: JLBC FY2027 General Fund · Increased Excise Tax Credit (A.R.S. 43-1072.01) · Prop 316 (Legislative Council analysis) · Prop 316 results · Tempe Prop 424 early results · Arizona Dept. of Revenue city tax rates · Highway fund split · Vehicle License Tax split · U.S. Census local government finances (2024 survey and 2022 Census of Governments) · City budgets: Apache Junction, Avondale, Buckeye, Bullhead City, Casa Grande, Chandler, El Mirage, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Lake Havasu City, Marana, Maricopa, Mesa, Oro Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Queen Creek, Sahuarita, Scottsdale, Sierra Vista, Surprise, Tempe, Tucson, Yuma
Federal sources: U.S. Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement, FY2025 and FY2026 · 2025 IRS brackets · 2026 IRS brackets · Federal gas tax (FHWA)
A married couple with two kids under 17. They earn $80,000 a year from work, spend $25,000 a year on shopping (not counting groceries) and $1,500 on gas, and rent their home. These are their 2026 taxes.
They pay about $10,310 a year in taxes. Here's where it goes.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the debt run on existing laws, so they change only when Congress changes those laws. Most other spending is voted on every year.
An estimate to show where tax money goes, not tax advice. Use the calculator above to see your own numbers.