HMRC smartphone app that calculates your tax bill & tells you how the Government spends it

Have you ever wondered how the Government spends your taxes? Well now there's a smartphone app that can tell you.

Yesterday HMRC launched an iphone/android app that can a) calculate how much tax you pay and b) how the Government spend it. The app can be downloaded for free and users simply enter their gross salary (up to £100,000 a year) into the on-screen calculator and the app will estimate their income tax and National Insurance liability.

The app also tells you:

• the amount of tax due at 20%, 40% and 50% rates
• your marginal tax rate
• the amount of your taxes spent on Welfare, Defence, Education, Environment, Debt, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Public Order, Government Administration, Recreation, Culture and Religion, Health, Environment, Overseas aid and Contribution to the EU.

So how much does the average UK tax payer contribute to each area?

Based on an average UK salary of £24,050, the average person would pay £3,188 in income tax and £1,973 in National Insurance. This equates to a marginal tax rate of 32%. The Government spends the £5,161 in income tax and National Insurance in the following way:

• Welfare - £1,719
• Health - £898
• Education - £671
• Debt - £330
• Infrastructure, agriculture & industry - £297
• Public Order & Safety - £258
• Government administration - £114
• Housing & local services - £103
• Recreation, culture & religion - £103
• Environment - £88
• Overseas aid - £52
• Contribution to the EU - £26
• Other - £206

For those who don't have a smartphone, HMRC will be sending everyone a personalised breakdown in the post from 2014.