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Majority Of Nevada Federal Tax Dollars Fund National Defense

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

The deadline to file taxes was this week and a new analysis examines exactly where Nevada's federal income tax dollars are going. 

Lindsay Koshgarian is a research director with the nonpartisan National Priorities Project, which tracks tax money and how it's spent. She says the average Nevada resident paid more than 12 thousand dollars in federal taxes last year, with the biggest chunk funding national defense.

"About $3,200 is going toward the Pentagon and related expenses," Koshgarian says. "About $700 of that is for military personnel, and the remainder is really for weapons systems, Pentagon operations - including the enormous Pentagon back-office that operates all around the country."

On a national level, Koshgarian says out of every federal income tax dollar paid in 2014, 27 cents went to the military, 26 cents went to health programs, and 15 cents was spent on interest on the federal debt.
 

Esther Ciammachilli is a former part-time broadcaster at KUNR Public Radio.
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