After cricket, complaining about taxes is probably India’s favourite pastime. It’s one of life’s greatest tragedies. The day you celebrate your first big paycheck, is also the first time the realities of taxes hit you. And while some of our complaints are justifiable, do any of us really know where our taxes go? Yeah, thought as much. Here’s a look at some of the places where our hard earned money is (supposedly) put to use:

“Taxes grow without rain.” -Jewish proverb

1. The Consolidated Fund of India.

Think of it like the main bank account of the entire country. Once it goes there, that’s when all the funds are allocated.

TheHindu

2. Funding military projects.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the military is funded solely on the backs of our taxes. But if $40 billion of the national budget is allocated to the military, then you can be certain that a big chunk of our taxes heads there.

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3. Public Infrastructure including, but not limited to, roads, flyovers and parks.

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3. Funding educational institutes like the IITs and the IIMs.

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4. The salaries of public servants.

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5. And their pensions when they retire.

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6. Public Transport like all the new Metros coming up in the major cities of the country.

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7. Funding for Public Healthcare.

This ranges from funding medical research to supporting government hospitals.

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8. Servicing the National Debt.

TheHindu

9. Increasing the effectiveness of programmes like the Midday Meal Scheme.

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10. Funding the National Literacy Mission Programme.

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11. We may complain about it, but our taxes also help in subsidising the cost of petrol.

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12. Funding the development of rural areas of the country.

Whether it’s through building infrastructure or promoting education.

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13. Our money also goes into subsidies for food.

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14. The grants given by the Central Government to State Governments.

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15. As well as grants given to Foreign Governments.

TheHindu

16. Irrigation and Flood Control.

You’d be surprised how much we actually spend on this. In 2013 the figure was 12,000 crores .

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So, we know where all our taxes are supposed to go. What do you guys think? Does it look the money is heading to where it’s meant to?

Featured Image: IBTimes