The Individual Cost of War Calculator was donated to the National Priorities Project by Jim Cousins and Don Raleigh of Minnesota, who cofounded and built the original My War Tax website.

How is this calculated?

The amount the war in Iraq will cost you is the sum of two figures: War Tax Paid and War Tax Still Owed, which includes veteran’s health care and disability compensation that are committed, but not yet paid.

Below are notes and citations for each:

War tax paid

1. It’s a simple ratio comparing your portion of all taxes to that of the war.
    
   Total budget for Iraq         Total federal income tax revenue*
   ---------------------------   =     ----------------------------------------------
   (Your portion)                     Your annual federal taxes

2. Your annual federal taxes are estimated based on the IRS federal tax bracket containing your income level for the year entered. This is simply an estimate and no deductions in taxable income have been incorporated. For a full explanation of how taxes are calculated visit http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm. For a more accurate War Tax estimate, chose the "Enter by taxes paid" option and reenter data.
    

3. Total federal income tax revenue is sourced from The Congressional Budget Office reports on The Budget and Economic Outlook, released in January 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
   http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=4985&sequence=5
   http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/60xx/doc6060/01-25-BudgetOutlook.pdf 
   http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/70xx/doc7027/01-26-BudgetOutlook.pdf 
   http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/77xx/doc7731/01-24-BudgetOutlook.pdf 
    

4. Total budget from Iraq figures for 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 are sourced from the Congressional Research Service. Report titled:

The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global
War on Terror Operations Since 9/11
Updated March 14, 2007
Amy Belasco
Specialist in National Defense
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf

War tax still owed (Committed but not yet paid).

This figure is based on your current war expense for each year. In addition to the current spending, there are three related budgetary costs:

• Future operating costs

• Veteran’s health care and disability compensation

• Net increased defense, reset and demobilization costs

A report by economists, Linda Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz shows these related budgetary costs to be 2.0119 times the current spending.*

 * The Milken Institute Review, Fourth Quarter, 2006 (pp 76-83). Linda Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1991 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics
http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/download/2006_Iraq_War_Milken.pdf
 

Your Iraq war tax does not include:

• The war in Afghanistan

• The economic impact that each of us pay

• The incalculable loss of human life