We previously discussed 10 Useless Ways They Spend Your Taxes and found some interesting items in our research. In that example, we listed the most expensive forms of tax and government waste. This time we will focus on the ridiculous. WARNING: Do not read if you are angry about writing a check to the fed for your 2015 taxes.
1. Check the Checks
Ever write a check for the wrong amount? Happens to us all. But when you’re the Fed it actually seems to happen to an outrageous if not criminal level. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office estimated the federal government made at least $72 billion in incorrect or improper payments.
Total cost to tax payers: $72 billion.
2. Booze and Hookers
No, it’s not a secret party for those special Secret Service agents who were caught doing ungentlemanly things on and off duty. This ridiculous waste of taxes was actually sponsored and sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2009 by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. It was intended to help Asian prostitutes drink less (not even quit drinking). So if after a hard day of working to pay taxes, you need a drink, and are not able to afford the good stuff, try not to think of this.
Total cost to tax payers: $2.6 million.
3. No Refunds
Ever buy plane tickets and then not need them? This is not a rare occurrence. However, every man, woman, child, and even multi-million dollar business would refund the refundable tickets. The Fed thought it best not to be bothered to.
Total cost to tax payers: $100 million.
4. Hope They Get the Good Side
How much would you pay for a photo of Air Force One? We wouldn’t spend a penny either. However, for the egotists who do want one, it only costs $60,000 per hour. And of course, this is paid for by you and me – not them.
Total cost to tax payers: $6 million per year, assuming they only do it once every three days
5. Smells Like Government Waste
The U.S. National Institutes of Health granted $940,000 to researchers to discover that the production of pheromones in fruit flies indeed declines over time. Since their life span is crazy short, the point would be…?
6. It’s Probably Because They Don’t Want to
The fed also sponsored a program that would, in addition to other items, attempt to figure out why children of about five years of age can’t sit still in their kindergarten classroom. If children ever do so, then we can study it.
Total cost to tax payers: $500 million
7. Paid Vacation
For reasons unknown to any sane person, but for extreme environmentalists and fans of dirt, the government will often pay farmers not to farm their own privately owned lands in an apparent attempt to keep food prices up. The starving people of the world probably have their own special appreciation for this policy as well.
Total cost to tax payers: $2 billion per year
8. It’s Literally Being Farted Away
The U.S. Department of Agriculture granted the University of New Hampshire the opportunity to study the methane gas emissions from cows. We could tell you it stinks for free, but the government is happy to spend:
Total cost to tax payers: $700,000
9. You Could Actually Buy a Plane Instead
The U.S. Congress once gave privately owned Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a special salmon on a Boeing 737. We think lighting the cash on fire would have been just as useful.
10. Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, the moral of the story is: the Fed screws you
About $1 million of your U.S. taxes was used to develop poetry for the Little Rock, Milwaukee, New Orleans, and Chicago zoos because apparently either animals can read or people go to zoos for the poetry. The laughable goal of this project was to help raise awareness on the environment yet ended up being another reminder of how government wastes your taxes.
Houston Tax Preparation
And if you live in the Houston or surrounding area and are in need of tax preparation to help you minimized your subsidizing all of this, please contact me.