How is your California State income tax payment spent?
By Phil Molina
The California taxpayer receipt tool only asks for state income taxes to create a receipt of how the funds were spent (despite the fact that many Californians pay more sales tax than income tax due to the high filing threshold for income tax).
2015 Income Tax Receipt Use this chart to get a sense of how state government spends tax dollars. To find out exactly how your tax dollars contributed to the operations of the government, create your own tax receipt here.
Total state spending
State Spending 2015-2016
- Source: Governor’s Budget 2015-16 Enacted Budget Summary (starts in the big blue segment and goes clockwise)
| Key | Program | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Health and Human Services | 31.2% | |
| K Through 12 Education | 30.2% | |
| Higher Education | 8.7% | |
| Corrections and Rehabilitation | 7.6% | |
| Transportation | 6.8% | |
| General Government | 4.1% | |
| Legislative, Judicial, and Executive | 3.9% | |
| Natural Resources | 2.9% | |
| Environmental Protection | 2.6% | |
| Business, Consumer Services, & Housing | 0.9% | |
| Government Operations | 0.6% | |
| Labor and Workforce Development | 0.5% |
NOTE: total does not add to 100% due to rounding.
Description of state spending funds
Create my tax receipt
How does it work? First, you need a copy of your:
- 2015 California state income tax return
In the box below, enter your total tax from your California income tax return:
- Forms 540, line 64
- Form 540 2EZ, line 21
- Form 540NR Long, line 74
Press the “Get CA Tax Receipt” button.
When you get your receipt, we think you will have a much better understanding of where your government spends your money.
This is a general estimate of how your taxes are spent.
