Corporate Taxes Are Down and the Deficit Is Up

The federal deficit is going up, up, up:

The federal budget deficit ballooned rapidly in the first four months of the fiscal year amid falling tax revenue and higher spending, the Treasury Department said Tuesday….The deficit grew 77 percent in the first four months of fiscal year 2019 compared with the same period one year before.

….Lawmakers enacted sweeping tax cuts at the end of 2017, and those changes continue to reduce revenue flowing to the Treasury Department. Tax revenue for October 2018 through January 2019 fell $19 billion, or 2 percent, Treasury said, though there were major reductions in the amount of money collected from businesses. Treasury found corporate tax payments over the first four months of the fiscal year dropped from from $75.5 billion to $58.9 billion, a fall of roughly 22 percent.

Ah, yes, “major reductions” in revenue from corporate taxes. Let’s take a look at that:

Sadly, it looks like those tax cuts didn’t pay for themselves. Yet again. Maybe next time.

In addition to falling revenue, the deficit has increased because of higher military spending and higher Medicare spending. The Medicare thing is sort of unexpected. Maybe I’ll take a closer look at that later today.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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