Budget Matters Blog

Category: Taxes & Revenue


Breaking Down Your Tax Bill

Our tax dollars should make life better, not go to waste. But the average taxpayer had to shell out over $1,000 for military contractors alone last year.


Tax Day 2022: We Got The Receipts

How does our government actually spend our tax dollars? Around Tax Day, it’s fair to wonder. Most of us never find out. 

But at NPP, we got the receipts. 


Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and You. Which One Pays Taxes?

Leaked IRS data shows just how little billionaires pay in taxes.


U.S. Billionaire Wealth Surges Past $1 Trillion Since Start of Pandemic — Total Grows to $4 Trillion

Billionaire's wealth growth since March is more than the $908 billion pandemic relief package proposed by a bipartisan group of members of Congres—which has been stalled over Republican concerns that it is too costly.


‘Building Back Better’ Should Be a Global Challenge

U.S. economic recovery efforts will not succeed if the global economy remains weak and serves only a small rich minority.


Introducing the Poor People's Moral Budget: Everybody Has the Right to Live

For the 140 million people who are poor, or one emergency away from being poor, we know it's necessary to present a comprehensive response to the systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and war economy plaguing our country today. This Poor People’s Moral Budget asks, given the resources of our society, whether these demands are also possible. Our answer is a resounding yes.


Your taxes provided $48 billion to Lockheed Martin. And some other stuff.

April 15, 2019 is Tax Day. Do you know where your tax dollars are? Here's a hint: military contractors cost the average taxpayer more than the price of a new Macbook Pro, but public housing costs the average taxpayer less than a curling iron from Wal-Mart. The average American paid...


How Much Could We Buy With a 70% Top Marginal Tax Rate?

How much could our federal government pay for if the top marginal tax rate was raised to 70 percent?


Tax Reform This Bad Only Comes Along Once in a Generation

Possibly the single worst thing about it is the cynical way that its supporters want to use it to create an excuse to gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. 


Death and Taxes: Trump's Tax Bill and the National Defense Authorization Act

The priorities in Congress this week are clear: a $700 billion authorization for military spending in FY 2018, and a $1.5 trillion tax plan that bestows untold wealth upon the already jaw-droppingly wealthy.