Tax Wrapped visualizes your tax dollars like Spotify Wrapped.
Source: fastcompany.com
TL;DR
- Riley Walz launched Tax Wrapped, a website that shows personalized breakdowns of federal spending from users' tax dollars in Spotify Wrapped style.
- Users input 2025 taxable income, filing status, dependents, and work status to see allocations based on U.S. Treasury data.
- It promotes financial literacy and transparency on government spending during tax season.[[1]](https://www.fastcompany.com/91526571/tax-wrapped-is-spotify-wrapped-for-your-tax-dollars)[[2]](https://taxwrapped.com/)
The story at a glance
A new website called Tax Wrapped lets Americans see how the federal government spends their tax contributions, styled like Spotify Wrapped. Technologist Riley Walz, known for viral tools like Find My Parking Cops and JSuite for Epstein files, created it using official U.S. Treasury data. The Fast Company article covers its launch amid 2025 tax filing, when people are thinking about their returns.[[1]](https://www.fastcompany.com/91526571/tax-wrapped-is-spotify-wrapped-for-your-tax-dollars)
Key points
- Mimics 2025 Spotify Wrapped design but in red, white, and blue; users start with a welcome screen asking for income details.[[1]](https://www.fastcompany.com/91526571/tax-wrapped-is-spotify-wrapped-for-your-tax-dollars)
- Inputs include total taxable income, filing status, number of dependents, and work status; taxes owed can be edited manually.
- Breaks down spending into categories like health and war, proportional to user's estimated federal taxes for 2025.[[2]](https://taxwrapped.com/)
- Data from U.S. Treasury's monthly treasury statement, the standard source for spending totals and categories, per Walz's methodology.[[1]](https://www.fastcompany.com/91526571/tax-wrapped-is-spotify-wrapped-for-your-tax-dollars)
- Walz's past projects mix eye-catching formats with social commentary, like mapping restaurant "hotness" or tracking parking cops.[[1]](https://www.fastcompany.com/91526571/tax-wrapped-is-spotify-wrapped-for-your-tax-dollars)
Details and context
Tax Wrapped launched recently, timed for tax season when filers use services like H&R Block. It calculates your share of federal outlays, not just income taxes, based on Treasury aggregates—your dollars follow overall spending patterns.
Walz built it as another quick, shareable tool; his sites often go viral by making public data intuitive, like real-time parking enforcement maps that SF shut down fast.[[1]](https://www.fastcompany.com/91526571/tax-wrapped-is-spotify-wrapped-for-your-tax-dollars)
The site stresses inputs aren't stored, focusing on education over tracking.
Key quotes
"Government spending totals from the standard source for deficit math and official category totals” (U.S. Treasury’s monthly treasury statement)." – Riley Walz, site methodology.[[1]](https://www.fastcompany.com/91526571/tax-wrapped-is-spotify-wrapped-for-your-tax-dollars)
Why it matters
Tax Wrapped highlights opacity in federal budgeting, where trillions flow to broad categories without personal visibility. For taxpayers, it means easy insight into real spending shares—like health or defense—beyond vague pie charts. Watch if it sparks shares or policy talk, though it's unofficial and uses latest available data.[[2]](https://taxwrapped.com/)