Tennesseans Paid $47-Billion In Federal Taxes In 2013

Residents and businesses in Tennessee paid $47 billion in federal taxes in 2013, according to a new report analyzing the federal budget’s impact on individual states. Becky Sweger, director of data and technology for the National Priorities Project, said most of the federal taxes coming out of Tennessee were paid by or on behalf of individuals in the form of income tax, self-employment tax and payroll tax. “On a per capita basis,” she said, “taxes paid by Tennessee comes out to about $7,300 a person in 2013.” The analysis also looked at how much is received in Tennessee from the federal budget over the course of a year, which totaled $66 billion. Sweger said that figure includes federal grants and contracts, the salaries of federal employees in the state and direct federal assistance. “Most of the money coming is aid to individuals,” she said, “and that has certainly been trending up for a total of about $66 billion, so that’s about $10,000 per capita.” The aid-to-individuals category includes programs such as Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and unemployment benefits. The report’s data is online at nationalpriorities.org/smart.