NEW: In 2025, the average American’s income taxes funded $4,049 for war and weapons and only $2,492 for Medicaid

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Washington, D.C. – Ahead of Tax Day, April 15, the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies released its latest annual Tax Receipt, highlighting exactly where Americans’ 2025 income taxes went and what those numbers say about our national spending priorities. 

As the war in Iran drives gas prices sky-high while the cost of living crisis threatens Americans’ ability to afford basic necessities here at home, the majority of ordinary Americans across the political spectrum are deeply concerned about where our tax dollars actually go and how the government will prioritize our communities’ needs.

Overall, in 2025, the average taxpayer contributed $4,909 for militarism and its support systems – including war and the Pentagon, veterans’ programs, and mass deportations and border militarization. Meanwhile, NPP’s new analysis found that Americans’ tax dollars only paid for $2,492 for Medicaid.

Last year, the president requested and received deep cuts to Medicaid and food stamps that will result in millions of Americans losing health insurance and food assistance, deepening the affordability crisis thanks to the Big, Ugly Bill. 

While most Americans will know whether they get a tax refund, many have no idea where their income tax dollars actually go. NPP’s new analysis spotlights how much of taxpayers’ money goes towards militarism and its support systems – including the war and weapons, and mass deportation and border militarization – compared to how many tax dollars go toward funding vital programs and services on which American communities rely in order to survive and thrive.

The average taxpayer in 2025 paid:

• $4,049 for weapons and war, vs. $2,492 for Medicaid, which provided health insurance to 68.5 million Americans in 2025 — about one in five Americans.
• $1,870 for Pentagon contractors, more than twice as much as the $770 the average taxpayer paid for troops’ pay, even as many troops rely on food stamps to feed themselves and their families; and fifteen times as much as the $124 the average taxpayer paid for school lunches and other nutrition programs. 
• $136 for nuclear weapons, seven times as much as the $19 the average taxpayer paid for the U.S. Postal Service, a provider of good jobs and affordable deliveries especially in rural areas.
• $119 for mass deportations and detentions, six times as much as the $19 the average taxpayer paid for the Federal Aviation Administration amidst a dangerous shortage of air traffic controllers and a recent deadly crash.
• $57 for aid to foreign militaries, including support for Israel’s attacks on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, vs. just $49 for diplomacy to foster peace and prevent war.

The 2025 Tax Receipt doesn’t show the cost of the recent war on Iran, which started in February 2026. But estimating 2026 Iran war costs in the context of data from NPP’s 2025 tax receipt and putting the cost at $35 billion — a line the U.S. is likely on the verge of crossing  —  the average taxpayer will have paid $130 for the war on Iran, eight times more than the $16 the average taxpayer paid for a full year of home heating and energy assistance in 2025. In FY 2024, nearly 6 million households received help with heating and energy costs, including 2.5 million households with older adults, 2.1 million households where someone had a disability, and nearly a million households with young children.

“It’s shameful that our tax dollars are doing more to bomb children in Iran and other countries than to feed and educate children here. Instead of spending even more of our hard-earned dollars on war and mass deportation, we deserve a massive reinvestment in making this country a place where we can all survive and thrive,” said Lindsay Koshgarian, Program Director for the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

This analysis follows an announcement regarding the President’s new FY 2027 budget request, including a $1.5 trillion war budget request that will only pave the way for more and longer wars, more deaths of civilians abroad, and higher costs for people here – all paid for with American taxpayers’ hard-earned money. 

“Our tax receipt shows why so many people in this country are struggling. We’re facing chronic underinvestment in this country, from healthcare to education and more. That money has instead been funding a $1-trillion war machine and a class of Pentagon contractors getting rich off our tax dollars. The good news is that if we reverse our backwards priorities, we can start to make Americans’ lives better,” said Koshgarian.

View a comprehensive breakdown of key findings and the full analysis.

View the previous year’s Tax Receipt.

Press contacts:

Olivia Alperstein, olivia@ips-dc.org

Lindsay Koshgarian, lindsay@ips-dc.org 

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