Have you ever wondered where your taxes go?

That’s a good question, especially since the IRS collects about $3.5 trillion in federal taxes annually from taxpayers like you. That’s A LOT of money! Most people don’t know exactly what their taxes are paying for, so we thought some information would be needed, especially since a significant chunk of our income is dedicated to taxes.

The IRS may seem like a riddle, with many things related to it wrapped in a mystery: money goes in, much less comes out, but what exactly happens in between those steps is an enigma to most of us. Well, not anymore. It’s time to drop the veil and find out where your tax dollars go.

Some of your taxes help support health research, civic projects, and other important investments that benefit humanity. But some of your tax money is used for unusual expenses — including buying robotic flowers and housing chimpanzees.

Get ready to find out what else you’re paying for with your taxes!

1. Putting Fish on Treadmills

In 2017, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona shared a list of the most extravagant tax splurges he could identify. Get ready for this: One involved the famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which was given a $560,000 grant by the National Science Foundation.

Yes, that money came from taxes. The goal? As part of a 2009 study, the scientists wanted to see the fish’s progress and recovery, so they forced the aquatic animals to exercise to exhaustion on treadmills.

The researchers chose mudskippers because of their special ability to use their fins as legs for prolonged periods of time when out of their natural habitat — water. After this, the exhausted fish were given two days to rest before hitting the gym again.

2. Turning Computers Into Couch Potatoes

Your tax dollars made something odder than necessary possible. In a 2016 study, computers were allowed to “watch” television for several days in a row — as if you weren’t already paying for subscription services.

The program was meant to train computers to both predict and understand human behavior. Some would claim these initiatives are good and necessary for technological evolution, while others may see this program as a big waste of money.

The study was funded by a $460,000 grant from the National Science Foundation as well as other funds given by the Department of Defense’s Office of Naval Research. The results were found to be inconclusive. But at least the computers were all caught up on their favorite TV shows.

3. Proving That Frat Brothers Love To Party

In 2016, the National Institutes of Health used a $5 million grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study the habits of college students.

Now, before revealing the results of the study, we’ve got to say that anyone who went to college could already tell the same thing: Members of fraternities and sororities typically consume more alcohol than the larger university population. That’s especially true on days of important sporting events.

The study also showed that members of fraternities and sororities tend to sleep in later. Oh, and they do look down on their counterparts who don’t like drinking.

4. Determine Whether Playing with Barbie Dolls Improves Face Recognition

In 2016, researchers at the National Science Foundation and National Eye Institute conducted a $300,000 study to determine if playing with Barbies — which was more common among the female participants in the study — improves women’s facial recognition abilities.

Since there are a lot of Barbie dolls with different faces, scientists came up with a hypothesis according to which women might be better at memorizing how faces look. In other words, researchers thought that women may have a gender-based advantage that men don’t have, so they decided to find out whether it was true or not.

It turns out that playing with Barbie dolls doesn’t help with facial recognition. So, that’s basically tax money that came out of your income for no reason.

5. NASA’s Study on How Wine Is Impacted by Global Warming

An $88,000 study conducted by NASA in 2016 looked at how climate change could affect the wine grape harvests in France. According to data, some of the best vintages in history have recently come from France, and scientists think there is a link between global warming and more robust, flavorful wines.

Wine-loving fellows probably believe that a study like this is necessary, but if you’re far from being a sommelier, you’d rather have your tax money used for other things of interest.

The study combined modern data obtained from satellite imagery with historical data, such as old records kept by French monasteries that controlled vast vineyards.

6. Subsidizing Massive Agricultural Corporations

Agricultural subsidies were meant to financially help farmers during a time when many Americans worked in agriculture, especially during and after the Great Depression and Dust Bowl.

While this support was needed in the past, now it may seem rather groundless as the number of farmers has decreased significantly. However, the agriculture lobby is as successful as ever, and the federal government distributes millions of tax funds — the great majority of which go to the most important companies — for insurance, research, marketing, and simply to overproduce.

Of course, farmers are once again in need of a little help as a result of former President Donald Trump’s trade war.

7. Studying Border Town Bars

In 2017, the National Institutes of Health paid $333,210 for a study on the drinking behaviors of Mexican Americans living in border towns. Among the process steps were “semi-structured interviews and unobtrusive methodical observations” conducted in certain bars in Mexicali, the Valley, and US border cities.

The researchers thought that bars in Mexicali would have “louder music, more dancing, and more patrons, as well as lower-priced alcohol beverages and a later closing time than the venues in Central Valley towns and US border towns”.

Yes, you’re right, some lucky fellows got paid with your tax money to hang out at bars.

8. The Vice President’s National Anthem Stunt

That’s a controversial one. In October 2017, former Vice President Mike Pence attended a football game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers. Colin Kaepernick and around a dozen other 49ers players decided to express their opposition to racial inequality by kneeling during the national anthem (they had done the same thing the previous week).

Pence couldn’t stand the whole thing, so he abruptly left the stadium to show his disgust. According to some journalists, his political stunt cost taxpayers about $325,000. This included an Air Force Two transportation bill of $250,000 plus other expenses like hotel rooms and rental cars. Not to mention that the vice president travels with a huge team.

9. Maintaining a Self-Cleaning Toilet

The public transportation system in Washington, D.C., has long been a source of frustration for many commuters. If you live in this state, get ready to find out how some of your tax dollars were spent.

In 2019, the Office of the Inspector General issued a report on the activities conducted by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It was found that between 2003 and 2017, WMATA spent around $500,000 maintaining a self-cleaning toilet located at one of its metro stations. But it gets even worse: The 2019 report also found that the toilet didn’t even work, as it had been out of service since 2017.

10. Turning the World Into a Huge Network of US Bases

According to CNBC, the US government spends over $150 billion a year maintaining 800 military bases in 80 countries. Yes, many of them are obviously relevant and necessary.

But some of them —  like the 113 bases in Japan, the 174 in Germany, and the 83 in South Korea — are post-World War II and Cold War relics that cost our nation a lot of money. These funds are used to maintain the bases as well as to pay the host countries for giving the US government the right to keep the bases there.

Many military experts agree there are too many of these bases, and, in some cases, they harm rather than serve American interests.

You may also want to read 9 States That Made Big Changes To Their Tax Laws.