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.
Florida: no state income tax, so the State of Florida section comes from the 6% state sales tax. By law, slices of it go back to local governments first: 8.9744% to the half-cent program for your county and its cities, 2.081% to counties and 1.3653% to cities (revenue sharing), and a little under 0.1% to small, struggling counties. The rest, about 87%, goes to the state's General Revenue Fund. It is split by the General Revenue budget for July 2026 to June 2027 as passed by the Legislature, before the Governor's line-item vetoes. Groceries and prescriptions are left out of shopping because they aren't taxed. County surtaxes only apply to the first $5,000 of any single item, which isn't counted here, so the surtax may be a little high for big purchases.
Counties and cities: the half-cent money is shared within your county by a state formula. The county gets a share for everyone outside cities plus two-thirds of the city population, and each city gets a share for its own population, no matter where in the county you shop. Revenue sharing is pooled statewide and shared by population and other factors. We show it going to your own county and city. Jacksonville and Duval County are one government, so its section uses the city's General Fund. County population totals are from the 2020 Census and city populations from the same census. Each county sales surtax is shown with the purpose voters approved. Hillsborough paused 1% of its surtax from January to May 2025, and Martin and Palm Beach changed theirs in 2026. On Nov 3, 2026, voters renewed Brevard's two surtaxes and Santa Rosa's infrastructure surtax at the same rates (early results).
Budgets: city sections are split by the city's General Fund for 10 larger cities, mostly 2026-27; some are still proposed or recommended budgets, which the page notes. County sections are split for Miami-Dade (by its priority areas) and Orange County (by function). Other cities, towns and counties 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. A dozen small towns whose Census report is missing or mostly "other" still show one line. Most of a Florida city's or county's money comes from property tax, not from the sales tax shown in these sections.
Property tax: the estimate is about 0.75% of home value a year, the statewide average effective rate (0.76% in Miami-Dade, 0.82% in Hillsborough, 0.75% in Orange, 0.77% in Duval and 0.94% in Broward). It already reflects the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap, averaged over all homeowners. If you bought your home recently, your bill is likely higher. Unincorporated Miami-Dade and the City of Miami are split by their 2026 tax rates, counting the $25,000 school exemption and the $51,000 exemption for other taxes. Elsewhere the split is the statewide share: about 39% to schools and 61% to counties, cities and special districts. On Nov 3, 2026, voters passed Amendment 3 with about 62% (it needed 60%). It raises the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, so 2026 property taxes on this page don't change. Fees for garbage, fire and stormwater on the same bill aren't included.
Florida gas taxes: the state charges a fuel sales tax (17.5 cents a gallon in 2025, 18 cents in 2026) and a State Comprehensive Enhanced Transportation System tax (9.7 and 9.9 cents) that go to the Department of Transportation, plus 4 cents shared with counties and cities. Counties add 6 to 12 cents of local gas taxes, used for roads and transit. Gas isn't charged regular sales tax. Average gas prices used: $2.96 a gallon for 2025 and $3.64 for 2026 (federal EIA averages).
Not included: tourist taxes on hotel stays, the communications services tax on phone and TV bills, utility taxes, and one-time taxes when you buy a home.
Florida sources: Florida Senate budget summary (HB 5001E) · Sales tax distribution law (s. 212.20) · Half-cent formula (s. 218.62) · EDR local government handbook · County surtax rates (DR-15DSS) · 2026 gas tax rates · 2025 gas tax rates · Registration fees (FLHSMV) · Miami-Dade 2026 tax rates · Homestead exemption · Statewide property tax split · Amendment 3 summary · Amendment 3 results · Brevard surtax renewals · Santa Rosa surtax renewal · U.S. Census local government finances (2024 survey and 2022 Census of Governments) · City budgets: Cape Coral · Fort Lauderdale · Jacksonville · Miami · Miramar · Orlando · Palm Bay · Port St. Lucie · St. Petersburg · Tampa
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 $9,092 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.
Jacksonville and Duval County merged in 1968. Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach keep their own councils.
An estimate to show where tax money goes, not tax advice. Use the calculator above to see your own numbers.