Federal Taxes and Spending Set Records Through February The federal government set records for both the amount of taxes it collected and the amount of money it spent in the first five months of fiscal 2020 (October through February), according to data released today in the Monthly Treasury Statement. During the October-February period, the government spent a record $1,991,272,000,000 while it collected a record $1,366,750,000,000 in taxes. Thus, while running up records in taxing and spending for the first five months of the fiscal year, the federal government also ran a deficit of $624,522,000,000. That means the federal deficit so far this year has averaged $124,904,400,000 per month. The previous high for federal taxes collected in the first five months of the fiscal year came in fiscal 2016, when the Treasury collected $1,361,919,580,000 in total taxes in constant February 2020 dollars in the October through February period. The previous high for federal spending in the first five months of the fiscal year came in fiscal 2009, when the Treasury spent $1,981,477,890,000 in constant February 2020 dollars in the October through February period. The Department of Health and Human Services led all federal agencies in spending in the first five months of fiscal 2020 with outlays of $547,736,000,000. It has averaged spending $109,547,200,000 per month so far this fiscal year. It is the only federal agency now spending an average of more than $100 billion per month, although the Social Security Administration comes close. The Social Security Administration had the second highest spending of any federal agency in the first five months of fiscal 2020 with outlays of $476,257,000,000. That averaged $95,251,400,000 per month. The Defense Department ranked third among federal agencies for spending during the first five months of the fiscal year with outlays of $290,323,000,000. Interest on Treasury securities was the next highest expenditure at $228,982,000,000 over the five-month period. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading... Related
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