Updated: 12-May-26 14:39 ET
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| Updated: 12-May-26 14:39 ET |
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Highlights
- The Treasury Department reported a $215.0 billion surplus for April (Briefing.com consensus: $202.5 bln), which was $43 billion less than the surplus reported for April 2025.
- Receipts totaled $837.3 billion, while outlays reached $622.3 billion.
Key Factors
- Individual Income Taxes ($515 billion) were the largest source of receipts in April, followed by Social Insurance & Retirement ($196 billion). Customs duties brought in $22 billion, bringing the fiscal year-to-date total to $189 billion.
- The largest outlays by function were Social Security ($139 billion), Net Interest ($97 billion), Medicare ($88 billion), and National Defense ($77 billion).
- The fiscal year-to-date deficit is $953 billion versus $1.049 trillion in the same period a year ago.
- The budget deficit over the last 12 months is $1.680 trillion versus $1.637 trillion in March.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is the recognition that a healthy level of tax receipts helped fuel a narrowing in the fiscal year-to-date deficit versus the year-ago period. Moreover, the deficit for the 12-month period ending in April is down 16% from the same period a year ago.
| Category |
APR |
MAR |
FEB |
JAN |
DEC |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus |
$215.0B |
-$164.1B |
-$307.5B |
-$94.6B |
-$144.7B |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus Fiscal YTD |
-$953.0B |
-$1168.6B |
-$1004.5B |
-$697.0B |
-$602.3B |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus over last 12 months |
-$1680.2 |
-$1636.9B |
-$1633.2B |
-$1632.8B |
-$1666.8B |