l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 CBO: Feds Taxing More, Spending More, Running Bigger Deficit in 2015
April 13, 2015 - 1:21 PM
By Terence P. Jeffrey
(CNSNews.com) - The federal government taxed away more money, spent more
money and ran a bigger deficit in the first half of fiscal 2015 than it did
in the first half of fiscal 2014, according to the Congressional Budget
Office.
“The federal government ran a budget deficit of $430 billion for the first
half of fiscal year 2015, CBO estimates--$17 billion more than the shortfall
recorded in the same span last year,” the CBO said in its Monthly Budget
Review for March 2015, which was published April 8. “Both revenues and
outlays were about 7 percent higher than the amounts recorded in the first
six months of fiscal year 2014."
The federal fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30.
Feds Taxed More, Spent More, Ran Bigger Deficit
In the first six months of fiscal 2014, the government took in approximately
$1,323,000,000,000 in revenue, according to CBO. In the first six months of
this fiscal year, it took in approximately $1,420,000,000,000—an increase
of $98,000,000,000.
Meanwhile, the federal government spent approximately $1,736,000,000,000 in
the first six months of fiscal 2014. It spent approximately $1,851,000,000,
000 in the first six months of the fiscal year—an increase of $115,000,000,
000 over last year.
Last year, the government ran a deficit of $413 billion in the first six
months of the fiscal year. This year, it ran a deficit of $430 billion—a $
17 billion increase over last year.
The biggest source of additional tax revenue for the federal government was
the individual income tax. In the first six months of fiscal 2014, Americans
paid the federal government approximately $585,000,000,000 in individual
income taxes. In the first six months of fiscal 2015, Americans paid $642,
000,000,000 in individual income taxes—an increase of $57 billion (or 9.7
percent) from fiscal 2014.
Tax Revenues Up in Fiscal 2015
Corporate income tax payments had a higher percentage increase than
individual income tax payments—but did not yield as much an increase in
actual revenue as the individual income tax.
In the first six months of fiscal 2014, businesses paid the federal
government approximately $118,000,000,000 in corporate income taxes. In the
first six months of fiscal 2015, they paid approximately $133,000,000,000 in
corporate income taxes. That was a 12.8 percent increase from 2014, but
only an additional $15,000,000,000 in tax revenues.
Payroll tax payments increased only 3.7 percent—but brought the federal
government $18,000,000,000 in additional revenues, rising from $490,000,000,
000 in the first half of fiscal 2014 to $509,000,000,000 in the first half
of fiscal 2015.
Overall tax revenues increased 7.4 percent from the first half of 2014 to
the first half of 2015—with total receipts rising from $1,323,000,000,000
in the first six months of fiscal 2014 to $1,420,000,000,000 in the first
six months of fiscal 2015.
Despite this windfall in additional tax revenue, the federal government ran
a bigger deficit in the first half of this fiscal year because federal
spending increased even more than federal tax revenues.
Total federal outlays climbed from $1,736,000,000,000 in the first half of
fiscal 2014 to $1,851,000,000,000 in the first half of fiscal 2015.
The $115,000,000,000 increase in federal spending outpaced the $98,000,000,
000 increase in federal taxation to result in a $17,000,000,000 higher
deficit ($413,000,000,000 in the first half of fiscal 2014 compared to $430,
000,000,000 in the first half of fiscal 2015).
Medicaid—which was expanded by Obamacare—was a major force driving
increased federal spending.
“Outlays for Medicaid rose by $31 billion (or 22 percent), largely because
most of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that led to increased
enrollment in Medicaid went into effect in January 2014 and therefore did
not affect the program’s spending in the first few months of fiscal year
2014 [which began in October 2013],” said the CBO.
Medicare spending (up $23 billion or 9 percent) and Social Security spending
(up $19 billion or 4 percent) also saw large increases. |
|
