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.
Not included yet: two state insurance premiums taken from paychecks, WA Cares (0.58% of wages, for long-term care) and the employee share of Paid Family and Medical Leave. Together they're roughly 1.2% to 1.4% of wages.
Washington: there is no state income tax on wages, pensions or Social Security. (Washington does tax large long-term capital gains: 7% of gains over about $278,000 for 2025, and 9.9% on gains more than $1 million over that, starting with 2025. This page doesn't ask about capital gains, so it isn't included.)
Sales tax: the state rate is 6.5% everywhere, and it goes to the state's general fund. It's split by the 2025-27 state budget as updated in 2026 (near general fund, after the Governor's vetoes), from the Legislature's budget notes. Local governments add 1.1% to 4.2% more. Every city and county gets the basic 1%: inside a city, the city keeps 85% and the county 15%; outside cities, the county gets all of it. Counties add taxes for criminal justice, public safety, 911, jails, mental health or housing. Transit districts add their own: Sound Transit's 1.4% in its part of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and local bus systems like King County Metro, Pierce Transit, Community Transit, C-TRAN and Spokane Transit. Cities can add taxes for street repair (transportation benefit districts), public safety and housing. Rates come from the Department of Revenue's quarterly tables; a year's rate is the average of its four quarters, because many rates changed in 2025 and 2026. Where a city is split by a transit boundary, we use the rate for the main part of the city. For unincorporated Pierce, Snohomish and other counties with a transit district, we use the rate inside the district, where most people live. We show the county pieces in detail for King, Kitsap and Spokane counties; for other counties they're one line. Groceries, prescriptions and gas aren't taxed. Since October 2025, sales tax also applies to some services like IT support, custom software, security and temporary staffing.
Working Families Tax Credit: Washington's credit for lower-income workers is paid as a refund, since there's no income tax. You qualify if you qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. For 2025 it's up to $335 with no children, $660 with one, $995 with two and $1,330 with three or more (at least $50). It shrinks as income nears the federal limit. The 2026 amounts are our estimate (2025 amounts plus about 3% for inflation) because the Department of Revenue's 2026 table wasn't available to us. You have to apply for it after you file your federal return.
Local budgets: Seattle's share of the basic 1% sales tax is split by its 2026 adopted General Fund. Spokane's uses its 2025-26 budget, split by the shares in the proposed budget because the adopted summary doesn't list departments. Other cities and counties are split by what they actually spent, as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau, where we have it. 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.
Property tax: the estimate uses each county's typical rate (median property tax divided by median home value, U.S. Census American Community Survey, 2020-2024), from 0.53% in San Juan County to 0.91% in Pierce County; entering your bill is more accurate. The split for Seattle and other King County cities uses King County's 2026 breakdown (Seattle's fire department and library are city services, so they're counted with the city). Spokane uses Spokane County's 2026 split for the city, and other places use the statewide split of taxes due in 2025: state school levy 26%, local schools 30%, counties 14%, cities 12% and other districts like fire, library, port and hospital 17%. Seniors and people with disabilities with incomes under their county's limit can get an exemption that isn't shown here.
Washington gas tax: 49.4 cents a gallon until June 2025, 55.4 cents from July 2025 and 56.5 cents from July 2026 (it now rises 2% each July), so we use 52.4 cents for 2025 and 55.95 cents for 2026. About 6 cents goes to counties, 3 cents to cities, 3 cents to street grants from the Transportation Improvement Board and 1 cent to ferries, by the formulas in state law. The rest goes to state highways and projects. Gas isn't charged sales tax. The Climate Commitment Act also raises gas prices, because fuel suppliers buy carbon allowances, but it isn't a per-gallon tax, so it isn't shown. Average gas prices used: $4.34 a gallon for 2025 and $5.16 for 2026 (January to October), from the federal EIA.
Not included: the business and occupation (B&O) tax that businesses pay, hotel and rental car taxes, the capital gains and estate taxes, utility taxes that many cities charge on phone, power and water bills, and car taxes like Sound Transit's car tab tax.
Washington sources: Dept. of Revenue local sales tax rates · Rate change notices · Local tax reference guide · MRSC: where sales taxes go · 2025 sales tax changes · 2026 supplemental budget notes (LEAP) · Working Families Tax Credit · Property tax levies due in 2025 · King County Assessor 2026 reports · Spokane County 2026 budget and levies · County property tax rates (Census ACS) · Gas tax distribution (RCW 46.68.090) · County Road Administration Board · EIA Washington gas prices · U.S. Census local government finances · Budgets: Seattle · Spokane
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 $9,814 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.