The federal government reportedly pulled in a record tax haul in April while posting its biggest-ever monthly budget surplus.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the government collected $515 billion and spent $297 billion, for a total monthly surplus of $218 billion. That topped the previous monthly record of $190 billion, set in 2001.
CBO analysts were surprised by the surplus, which was some $40 billion more than they’d guessed at less than a month ago, The Washington Times explained.
Analysts said they’ll have a better idea of what’s behind the surge as more information rolls in, but for now said it looks like individual taxpayers are paying more because they have higher incomes because of the Trump tax cuts.
“Those payments were mostly related to economic activity in 2017 and may reflect stronger-than-expected income growth in that year,” the analysts said in their monthly budget review.
“Part of the strength in receipts also may reflect larger-than-anticipated payments for economic activity in 2018. The reasons for the added revenues will be better understood as more detailed information becomes available later this year.”
The tax overhaul, which sailed through the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress in December without Democratic support, permanently cut the top corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, Reuters reported. Tax cuts for individuals, however, are temporary and expire after 2025.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have said their tax overhaul will lead to more take-home pay for workers and have touted the bonuses some workers received from their employers as evidence the law is working.
The tax law is Republicans’ only significant legislative achievement since Trump took office as they head into the midterms, when all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and about a third of the 100-member Senate’s seats are being contested.
The CBO has said that the tax bill, as written, is projected to add $1.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
The tax cuts was a central point of discussion at the recent annual Milken Institute Global Conference, Reuters reported. Michael Corbat, the chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc., touted a bright economic outlook and said the Trump tax cuts have yet to filter through to many businesses.
“The benefits of tax reform aren’t yet fully into our economy. Not yet fully appreciated in terms of the intermediate impact they can have,” he said.
U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican-majority in the House, said the tax cut bill has been a huge boost for Americans.
“We’ve watched the growth of America expand. People are talking about 3.0 percent growth, we haven’t seen that in quite some time,” McCarthy said, adding that Americans have received pay raises and bonuses.
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).