Senators Introduce Taxpayer Receipt Act

Senators Scott Brown (R-MA) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) have introduced The Taxpayer Receipt Act of 2011

Under this bipartisan legislation, every taxpayer who files an income tax return would receive an itemized receipt – similar to a grocery store receipt – from the IRS that lists where their payroll and income taxes are spent.  The receipt would include key categories such as the interest on the national debt, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, national defense, education, veterans’ benefits, environmental protection, foreign aid – and, last but not least, Congress.

Taxpayers also would be directed to a website where they could get more detailed information on programs not included on the one-page receipt.  Additionally, the receipt would provide taxpayers with the amount of debt per American – which currently is more than $45,000.

On the private sector front, Google is pushing a similar project its Data Viz Challenge showing people how their tax money is spent via WhatWePayFor.com.

• Accounting Today, Senators Introduce ‘Taxpayer Receipt’ Law
• Boston Globe editorial, Taxpayer Receipt: Show Us the Numbers
• The Hill, Senators Introduce Bill That Would Provide Detailed Tax Receipt