The IBO's Tax Receipt service is the basis for the Taxpayer-Right-To-Know-Act, recently signed into law by President Clinton as part of an appropriations bill funding the Treasury Department for fiscal year 2000. Senator Charles E. Schumer (NY) who introduced the bill in Congress said, "IBO's Tax Receipt is a simple but ingenious concept that provides New Yorkers a valuable service...Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is spent."

The Act requires the Internal Revenue Service to establish a similar program on its website where taxpayers may get an itemized receipt on how their tax dollars are spent by the federal government. The IRS site will allow a taxpayer to easily find out how much he or she personally contributed-in actual dollars and cents-to government activities such as national defense, Medicaid, farm subsidies, student aid, welfare programs, veterans care, the space program and interest on the debt.

New Yorkers can get an itemized printout of how much of their city and state taxes, as well as federal taxes, went for specific purposes from the IBO's website at www.ibo.nyc.ny.us.