Federal spending on retirement tax programs in 2013 outweighed the discretionary budgets of 14 cabinet-level U.S. agencies. But almost all of those funds went to the highest income households while providing little help to families who needed it most, according to a new analysis by Prosperity Now.
Upside Down: Retirement Tax Programs found that the highest-income 1% of households received $15.9 billion annually in tax benefits from a combination of retirement savings plans - more than the combined total ($12.7 billion) of the entire bottom 60% of the population.
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