Federal Tax Receipts Are Tanking

Federal receipts are tanking – really tanking. In April 2008, Federal receipts set an all time record, even after subtracting all the stimulus checks. This year, March tax receipts are 27.9% below March 2008 and April is estimated to be even worse: down 38.6% over last year.

When we look at the ledger, receipts were pretty good through 2008 Q3. But since then, receipts have been moving south. Let’s see, what happened in Q4 2008? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the beginning of the federal government’s fiscal year and the passage of TARP and other ‘stimulus’ disasters.

From Tom Blumer and the Bizzy Blog:

In April 2008, the US Treasury collected an all-time record $407.3 billion ($403.75 billion after subtracting the first $3.35 billion wave of stimulus checks, which really should have been treated as outlays, that went out just before month-end). It was an indication that, as I said at the time, “many (entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and investors) are thinking, in the face of relentless media harping to the contrary, that 2008 will be at least as profitable (as 2007).”

This year, it’s shaping up to be the “Bailout Year Bummer.” Uncle Sam’s fiscal year began on October 1 of last year, mere days before Congress passed the legislation that has come to be known as TARP, and a bit more than three months after Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Harry Reid promised to starve the economy of energy and punitively tax its highest producers, creating what I have since called the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) Economy.

Through March, federal receipts were running 14% behind the previous year. Each month during the fiscal year has trailed the previous year, and degree of the difference has steadily increased.

And here’s a little visual aid, showing the comparison between 2008 and 2009:

And courtesy once again of Tom Blumer, here’s a ‘Tuesday to Tuesday’ comparison of this month against April 2008, with figures being drawn straight from the Treasury:

Here’s a prediction – not that I’m risking anything here: receipts will continue to go down. Yes, the economy’s slowing. But everything’s slowing down because people – me included – are not willing to put their capital at risk.

Welcome to the Obama-Pelosi-Reid economy. As Jumpin’ Joe said, ‘It’s time to do the patriotic thing, time to kick in.’

Related posts:

1. When ‘Fairness’ is a Verb
2. What’s the Endgame?
3. The Looming Deficit: Crisis as Pretext?
4. Only the Private Sector Can Get Us Out of This Jam

Tagged as: economy, taxes