Where do your income tax dollars go? When you buy groceries or pay medical expenses you get an itemized receipt or bill listing how your money was spent. But when it comes to income taxes, taxpayers get no documentation in return. IBO's internet Tax Receipt service enables taxpayers to better understand how the government spends their money by generating actual amounts, not just percentages, spent by all levels of government on specific services.

By visiting our website at www.ibo.nyc.ny.us and entering the total amount of income taxes you paid for 1997, you can now get an itemized receipt showing how much of your federal, New York State, or New York City income taxes went for specific activities. Simply by entering your total tax amounts from 1997 income tax forms, you will receive an itemized listing showing how much you paid-in actual dollars and cents-for more than 80 government services, such as national defense, Medicare, prisons, state parks, police, libraries, and garbage collection.

After a successful launch for the 1996 tax year, IBO has updated the Tax Receipt service for 1997. Our effort has received national recognition as an innovative use of technology and was recently showcased by the National League of Cities. Consistent with our charge to improve public understanding of fiscal issues facing New Yorkers, this service is designed to help taxpayers better understand what their government does and how much they pay for it.