CBO: Slight decrease in deficit over last year
The deficit in June was $69 billion, $25 billion less than the shortfall recorded a year ago.
The federal budget deficit totaled just over $1 trillion for the first nine months of fiscal 2010, $81 billion less than the roughly $1.1 trillion deficit incurred through June 2009, according to CBO's monthly budget review.
Receipts to date are 0.5 percent higher than they were last year at this time -- by about $8 billion -- and outlays are about 3 percent, or $73 billion, lower in the same period last year, CBO said in the review, released late Wednesday.
Receipts from corporate income taxes in the first nine months were $31 billion, or 31 percent, higher than the amounts collected during the same period last year. That increase reflects higher taxable profits in 2010, resulting both from improved economic conditions and from lower depreciation charges, CBO said.
"The increase in corporate payments in June could indicate that the September quarterly payments also will show strength because corporate receipts in those two months tend to move in tandem," CBO noted.
The deficit in June was $69 billion, $25 billion less than the shortfall recorded a year ago.
In May, the Treasury Department reported a deficit of $136 billion, about $6 billion less than CBO had projected on the basis of the Daily Treasury Statements. CBO said the difference occurred largely because spending was lower than expected for programs covering healthcare, veterans, and homeland security.
Receipts in June were $36 billion, or 17 percent, higher than in June 2009. More than half of that difference stemmed from an increase of $19 billion, or almost 60 percent, in net receipts from corporate income taxes that month. Gross receipts from those taxes rose by $15 billion, or 37 percent, primarily because of higher estimated payments for the current year. A $4 billion decline in corporate income tax refunds also bolstered net corporate receipts.
Meanwhile, outlays in June were $11 billion higher the same month last year. Outlays for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were, in total, about $19 billion lower this June than in June 2009, but other spending was up by about $30 billion. Outlays increased by $5 billion for FDIC and by $3 billion each for defense and for health programs.
Spending for Social Security benefits and veterans' programs increased by $2 billion each in June, and the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust lost more than $1 billion on its investment portfolio in June 2010. A year ago, it earned about $1 billion.