The feds collect record taxes for October, but they still run a massive deficit

The federal government collected approximately $403,434,000,000 in total taxes in October, a record for the first month of the fiscal year.

At the same time, seconds in the Monthly Treasury Statement, the federal government spent $469,997,000,000 during October and had a deficit of $66,564,000,000.

In October 2022, in the first month of fiscal year 2023, the federal government collected $318,500,000,000 in total taxes. When adjusted for inflation to October 2023 dollars (using the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator), it equals $328,823,050,000. That’s $74,610,950,000 less than the federal government collected this October.

Federal tax collections this October included $219,908,000,000 in individual income taxes; $114,210,000 in Social Security and retirement taxes; $7,263,000,000 in excise taxes; $4,460,000,000 in estate and gift taxes; $6,903,000,000 in customs duties; and $2,481,000,000 in what the Treasury classifies as “miscellaneous receipts.”

The largest source of federal spending in October was the Social Security Administration, which spent $117,573,000,000, according to Table 3 of the monthly Treasury statement.

The second largest source of federal spending was the Department of Health and Human Services, which spent $89,785,000,000 during the month. The third highest was gross interest on Treasury debt securities, which cost $88,926,000,000. The fourth highest was the Department of Defense Military Programs, which spent $83,381,000 during the month.

Terence P. “Terry” Jeffrey is editor-in-chief of the US conservative Internet news service CNSNews.com, a position he assumed in September 2007. In 1996, he became editor of Human Events, a national weekly conservative of the United States

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