U.S. Tax Revenues Fall, Deficit Widens in Wake of New Tax Law

7,081 Views | 73 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Canada2017
Osodecentx
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Who cares? What me worry? $22 trillion debt

U.S. Tax Revenues Fall, Deficit Widens in Wake of New Tax Law
Treasury has attributed the weaker revenueincluding lower corporate and individual income-tax ratesto the tax law that took effect in January 2018

WASHINGTONFederal tax revenue declined 0.4% in 2018, the first full calendar year under the new tax law, despite robust economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate in nearly five decades.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday federal revenue totaled $3.33 trillion last year, while federal spending totaled $4.2 trillion, a 4.4% increase from the previous year.

That pushed the U.S. budget gap up to $873 billion for the 12 months that ended in December, compared with $680.8 billion during the same period a year earliera 28.2% increase. Last year was the highest deficit for a calendar year since 2012.
A senior Treasury official attributed the weaker revenue collection in 2018 to the sweeping changes to U.S. tax code that took effect last year, including lower corporate and individual income-tax rates.
A Treasury spokeswoman said the administration has been clear the tax law would reduce revenues in the near-term "due to the front-loading of certain provisions, such as the immediate expensing of capital expenditures to encourage investment in U.S. businesses."

"The tax cut is spurring increased economic growth which will ultimately generate trillions of dollars of economic activity and greatly contribute to higher government revenue over time," she said.
Estimates from nonpartisan government scorekeepers do not project the tax cut will pay for itself.
A strong economy typically leads to narrower deficits, as rising household income and corporate profits help boost tax collections, while spending on safety-net programs tends to decline.
In 2018, however, rising interest rates and a bigger debt load pushed up the government's interest costs, and a bipartisan budget deal led to a sharp increase in military spending. At the same time, the lower tax rates kicked in, constraining receipts for much of the year.

Trump administration officials argued the tax law would generate enough economic growth to help offset revenue lost over 10 years from the $1.5 trillion tax cut.

Economic growth has picked up, thanks to strong consumer spending and business investment, but it has not been enough to make up for a significant drop in corporate income tax collection.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the gross domestic product grew at a 3.1% annual rate in 2018, the strongest pace since 2010. Employers added 2.6 million jobs last year, half a million more than the year before, and the jobless rate hovered below 4% for much of the year.
But the effects of last year's fiscal stimulus are also expected to fade in 2019. The CBO estimates the gross domestic product will grow at a 2.3% annual rate this year.
The U.S. is on track to record a $900 billion deficit this year, CBO said, and annual deficits are expected to top $1 trillion starting in 2022.
Tax receipts are flat so far this fiscal year, due in part to a decline in corporate income tax collection, while federal outlays have increased 10%, Treasury said. The government ran a $319 billion deficit in the first three months of the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, compared to a $225 billion deficit in the same period a year earlier.
Declining corporate tax receipts have been partially offset by a surge in tariff revenue, after the White House began imposing levies last year on imported goods, such as steel, solar panels, cars, washing machines and lumber. Treasury said Wednesday that customs duties nearly doubled in the first three months of the fiscal year, totaling $17.8 billion, compared with $9.4 billion in the same period a year earlier.
As a share of gross domestic product, the deficit totaled 4.2% in December, Treasury said.
By comparison, the last time the jobless rate was below 4%, in 2000, the U.S. ran a budget surplus of 2.3% of GDP for the year. Revenue that year rose 11% from a year earlier. And in 1969, when the jobless rate last touched 3.7%, the U.S. ran a budget surplus equal to 0.3% of GDP. Revenue was up 22% that year.
Osodecentx
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Proving the point that no one cares, at least not many of us
Canada2017
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Wait ...I thought taxes went up....refund shortages and such .
Doc Holliday
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Congress won't stop spending because they get rich off the lobbyists.

Whips and leaders front run the republic by placing stupidly expensive and wasteful spending into huge bills like the Omnibus. If you're a congressmen and you don't comply, they will take all access to money and power away from you and effectively end your career.

That's how D.C. works and it is the cancer within.

If you want anything, you become part of the swamp.

The national debt has nothing to do with need for more tax money.
jimdue
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Doc Holliday said:

Congress won't stop spending because they get rich off the lobbyists.

Whips and leaders front run the republic by placing stupidly expensive and wasteful spending into huge bills like the Omnibus. If you're a congressmen and you don't comply, they will take all access to money and power away from you and effectively end your career.

That's how D.C. works and it is the cancer within.

If you want anything, you become part of the swamp.

The national debt has nothing to do with need for more tax money.
Sorry, we need more tax money and we need to cut spending. There is a trillion dollar annual revenue shortfall plus 22 trillion and counting of debt to finance. A huge portion of federal spending is fixed (entitlements) which is only going to rise as well as interest on the existing debt which is only going to rise.

A trillion dollar deficit can not be ignored and there is not a trillion dollars worth of waste, fraud and abuse in the so called swamp that is supposedly getting drained. The big $s are in the current and future wealth transfer from young to old (social security and medicare) and rich to poor (medicaid and welfare/food stamps). The problem is only going to get worse and to properly address them would probably be political suicide. In other words, we are not going to do squat about the problem (republican and democrat) because the majority of the American people really do not want to do what would have to be done. On the bright side, our debt problem sucks much less than pretty much any other developed nation in the world.

Doc Holliday
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jimdue said:

Doc Holliday said:

Congress won't stop spending because they get rich off the lobbyists.

Whips and leaders front run the republic by placing stupidly expensive and wasteful spending into huge bills like the Omnibus. If you're a congressmen and you don't comply, they will take all access to money and power away from you and effectively end your career.

That's how D.C. works and it is the cancer within.

If you want anything, you become part of the swamp.

The national debt has nothing to do with need for more tax money.
Sorry, we need more tax money and we need to cut spending. There is a trillion dollar annual revenue shortfall plus 22 trillion and counting of debt to finance. A huge portion of federal spending is fixed (entitlements) which is only going to rise as well as interest on the existing debt which is only going to rise.

A trillion dollar deficit can not be ignored and there is not a trillion dollars worth of waste, fraud and abuse in the so called swamp that is supposedly getting drained. The big $s are in the current and future wealth transfer from young to old (social security and medicare) and rich to poor (medicaid and welfare/food stamps). The problem is only going to get worse and to properly address them would probably be political suicide. In other words, we are not going to do squat about the problem (republican and democrat) because the majority of the American people really do not want to do what would have to be done. On the bright side, our debt problem sucks much less than pretty much any other developed nation in the world.


There's about $473 billion in wasteful spending right now.

More jobs = more taxpayers = more tax revenue. We go higher on taxes and we will absolutely have less revenue eventually through lost jobs.
BaylorBJM
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Up 40% last year. Great work everyone.

https://www.apnews.com/f8189d4c6cb542caad6ff9f2d21714da
TexasScientist
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The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
Osodecentx
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TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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This man has it all figured out. Two years of a Republican president, senate and house should have made it doable.

I have found theres only two ways to go:
Living fast or dying slow.
I dont want to live forever.
But I will live while I'm here.
quash
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The real national emergency. And what better time to deal with it than during full employment?
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” (The Law, p.6) Frederic Bastiat
redfish961
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Osodecentx said:

TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
I can agree with this.

It's been happening for decades and at some point, the seeds will be sown.

Bubbles burst and so will this one eventually.

I wonder how long it has been since there was no deficit?

I wonder how long it has been since there was a surplus?
EatMoreSalmon
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redfish961 said:

Osodecentx said:

TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
I can agree with this.

It's been happening for decades and at some point, the seeds will be sown.

Bubbles burst and so will this one eventually.

I wonder how long it has been since there was no deficit?

I wonder how long it has been since there was a surplus?
The reality is that to balance the budget and pay down the debt, there can be no real surplus for a long, long, time.
Osodecentx
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redfish961 said:

Osodecentx said:

TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
I can agree with this.

It's been happening for decades and at some point, the seeds will be sown.

Bubbles burst and so will this one eventually.

I wonder how long it has been since there was no deficit?

I wonder how long it has been since there was a surplus?
When a Republican was Speaker of the House and a Republican was Majority Leader

Fun aside, it is bipartisan

redfish961
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Osodecentx said:

redfish961 said:

Osodecentx said:

TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
I can agree with this.

It's been happening for decades and at some point, the seeds will be sown.

Bubbles burst and so will this one eventually.

I wonder how long it has been since there was no deficit?

I wonder how long it has been since there was a surplus?
When a Republican was Speaker of the House and a Republican was Majority Leader

Fun aside, it is bipartisan


I didn't know the answer.

Offhand, do you know when that was?
Osodecentx
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94-96, thereabouts
quash
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Osodecentx said:

94-96, thereabouts

Budget surplus, welfare reform, good times.
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” (The Law, p.6) Frederic Bastiat
Mitch Blood Green
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Canada2017 said:

Wait ...I thought taxes went up....refund shortages and such .


They went up for us in the middle.
Mitch Blood Green
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redfish961 said:

Osodecentx said:

TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
I can agree with this.

It's been happening for decades and at some point, the seeds will be sown.

Bubbles burst and so will this one eventually.

I wonder how long it has been since there was no deficit?

I wonder how long it has been since there was a surplus?


I'm interested to see corporate earnings after the first quarter.
Mitch Blood Green
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Osodecentx said:

redfish961 said:

Osodecentx said:

TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
I can agree with this.

It's been happening for decades and at some point, the seeds will be sown.

Bubbles burst and so will this one eventually.

I wonder how long it has been since there was no deficit?

I wonder how long it has been since there was a surplus?
When a Republican was Speaker of the House and a Republican was Majority Leader

Fun aside, it is bipartisan




We just had a Republican speaker and majority leader and to boot, a Republican President. Are you saying these Republicans have lost their way?

A better way of looking at it was when Republicans were for something. These guys are just against everything.
Jack and DP
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This is the first budget to be passed in years. DC has been asleep at the wheel for a while.
quash
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Jack and DP said:

This is the first budget to be passed in years. DC has been asleep at the wheel for a while.
They woke up and passed a trillion dollar deficit. How does that help?
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” (The Law, p.6) Frederic Bastiat
Canada2017
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tommie said:

Canada2017 said:

Wait ...I thought taxes went up....refund shortages and such .


They went up for us in the middle.


What family income range do you define as the middle ?
quash
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https://www.facebook.com/17548474116/posts/10156345394649117/

Last word is nsfw.
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” (The Law, p.6) Frederic Bastiat
Jack and DP
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quash said:

Jack and DP said:

This is the first budget to be passed in years. DC has been asleep at the wheel for a while.
They woke up and passed a trillion dollar deficit. How does that help?

It doesn't, but can't expect a balanced budget when there isn't even a budget.
quash
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Jack and DP said:

quash said:

Jack and DP said:

This is the first budget to be passed in years. DC has been asleep at the wheel for a while.
They woke up and passed a trillion dollar deficit. How does that help?

It doesn't, but can't expect a balanced budget when there isn't even a budget.
I think it is just fine to expect a balanced budget. In fact, not expecting one is how we got here.

But Kavanaugh, yay.
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” (The Law, p.6) Frederic Bastiat
Mitch Blood Green
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Canada2017 said:

tommie said:

Canada2017 said:

Wait ...I thought taxes went up....refund shortages and such .


They went up for us in the middle.


What family income range do you define as the middle ?


I've not thought about it. From what I can see, families between 70K and 500K are seeing an increase ESPECIALLY property owners who saw their mortgage deduction capped.

I'm not one of those who got the money in the form of increased pay last year and am shocked to see a smaller refund.
Osodecentx
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tommie said:

Osodecentx said:

redfish961 said:

Osodecentx said:

TexasScientist said:

The deficit will never be eliminated because congress won't control spending. You can't tax the public enough to pay it off. A majority of Congress really doesn't believe it's necessary to cut spending. They can continue to print money and sell Treasuries until no one will buy them. Congress doesn't foresee a scenario of no confidence in US debt. It's worked for about 50 years now - so why change - is what they think.
The most predictable crisis in history is coming at us
I can agree with this.

It's been happening for decades and at some point, the seeds will be sown.

Bubbles burst and so will this one eventually.

I wonder how long it has been since there was no deficit?

I wonder how long it has been since there was a surplus?
When a Republican was Speaker of the House and a Republican was Majority Leader

Fun aside, it is bipartisan




We just had a Republican speaker and majority leader and to boot, a Republican President. Are you saying these Republicans have lost their way?

A better way of looking at it was when Republicans were for something. These guys are just against everything.
They've lost their way
ValhallaBear
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There is no plan with either team to reduce the deficit. They can't. Tax increases or spending cuts are both suicide for re-election

We will just continue to print and spend until we don't
Booray
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To answer some questions. FY 2001 was the last time we saw a budget surplus. At the time the CBO was predicting many years of budget surplus.

We turned those projected surpluses into projected deficits through a combination of

Tax cuts
Increased medicare spending
Recession caused by a lack of financial regulation
Mideast wars

We did it to ourselves. It was not that long ago we had the opportunity to seriously reduce the debt for our children. Greed and jingoism did us in.

Doc-you told us repeatedly that tax revenues must and always rise following a tax cut. What happened?
ValhallaBear
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Globalization and consolidation made any semblance of a reasonable economy impossible
Doc Holliday
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Booray said:

To answer some questions. FY 2001 was the last time we saw a budget surplus. At the time the CBO was predicting many years of budget surplus.

We turned those projected surpluses into projected deficits through a combination of

Tax cuts
Increased medicare spending
Recession caused by a lack of financial regulation
Mideast wars

We did it to ourselves. It was not that long ago we had the opportunity to seriously reduce the debt for our children. Greed and jingoism did us in.

Doc-you told us repeatedly that tax revenues must and always rise following a tax cut. What happened?

The tax revenues are higher now than they would be without the tax cut. That is a fact.

We have a spending problem.

The government is a 3rd party payer and they care not for cost or quality.
Booray
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Because America can't compete in an international economy?

Please, that is some weak sauce.

We did it to ourselves
Booray
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Doc Holliday said:

Booray said:

To answer some questions. FY 2001 was the last time we saw a budget surplus. At the time the CBO was predicting many years of budget surplus.

We turned those projected surpluses into projected deficits through a combination of

Tax cuts
Increased medicare spending
Recession caused by a lack of financial regulation
Mideast wars

We did it to ourselves. It was not that long ago we had the opportunity to seriously reduce the debt for our children. Greed and jingoism did us in.

Doc-you told us repeatedly that tax revenues must and always rise following a tax cut. What happened?

The tax revenues are higher now than they would be without the tax cut. That is a fact.

We have a spending problem.

The government is a 3rd party payer and they care not for cost or quality.
You are beyond help. You told me that tax revenue always rises following a tax cut. The article says that 2018 tax revenue declined. You were wrong, you just can't admit it.

If there had been no tax cut, lets say the economy would neither have grown or contracted. We would have repeated 2017. (Which is not actually tree, the economy would have still grown, albeit at a slower pace). We would have .4% more tax revenue.

Your dogma is ruining us.
Canada2017
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tommie said:

Canada2017 said:

tommie said:

Canada2017 said:

Wait ...I thought taxes went up....refund shortages and such .


They went up for us in the middle.




What family income range do you define as the middle ?


I've not thought about it. From what I can see, families between 70K and 500K are seeing an increase ESPECIALLY property owners who saw their mortgage deduction capped.

I'm not one of those who got the money in the form of increased pay last year and am shocked to see a smaller refund.


Well now that you've had a little time to think about it....

what is your definition of the middle class ?

Mine is a family income of $ 135,000 to $ 250,000
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