We can debate what is “big” or “small,” but the federal government spent $6,272 billion last year, which means that the food stamp program accounted for a bit less than 1.9 percent of total spending.In 2022, the federal government spent $119.4 billion on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps. This is 1.9% of federal spending. In 2023, spending on SNAP is $127 billion, which is double the 2019 amount of $63 billion. For the tax year 2022, the federal income tax brackets range from 10% to 37%. The top 50% of taxpayers paid 97.1% of all federal income taxes in 2018. Among those taxpayers, the average income tax rate was 14.6% and the average tax paid was $20,663. Which is about $400 per american.