Over the past 40 years, revenues have averaged a bit above 17 percent of GDP; they have ranged from nearly 20 percent of GDP in fiscal year 2000 to below 15 percent in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. In addition to projecting the future course of federal revenues, CBO analyzes the budgetary and economic effects of various features of the federal tax system and the effects of potential changes to current tax rules.
Taxes
Featured Work
An Analysis of the President's 2015 BudgetApr 2014 - Enacting the President's proposals would, CBO and JCT estimate, result in deficits totaling $6.6 trillion between 2015 and 2024, $1.0 trillion less than the cumulative deficit in CBO's current-law baseline.
Updated Budget Projections: 2014 to 2024Apr 2014 - The deficit will decrease to $492 billion in 2014, CBO projects. But under current law, deficits will begin rising again in 2016—and by 2024, debt will reach 78 percent of GDP, twice the average of the past 40 years.
Infographics on the Federal BudgetApr 2014 - See how much the government spent and took in during 2013 as well as other information about the budget, deficits, and debt.
Federal Budget Overview
Revenues
Mandatory Spending
Discretionary Spending
The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024Feb 2014 - Under current law, deficits will drop through 2015 but rise thereafter, boosting the already high federal debt, CBO projects. Economic growth will be solid in the near term, but unemployment will not drop below 6.0 percent until 2017.
Choices for Deficit Reduction: An UpdateDec 2013 - Federal debt is projected to rise significantly over the long term. What policy changes could reduce future deficits and thus lower the trajectory of federal debt? What criteria might be used to evaluate those policy changes?
The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010Dec 2013 - Households in the top quintile (including the top percentile) paid 68.8 percent of all federal taxes, households in the middle quintile paid 9.1 percent, and those in the bottom quintile paid 0.4 percent.
The Distribution of Federal Spending and Taxes in 2006 Nov 2013 - CBO analyzes the distribution of most federal spending—including transfers like Social Security benefits—and almost all federal revenues among U.S. households in 2006. Results are provided by type of household and by income group.
The Distribution of Major Tax Expenditures in the Individual Income Tax SystemMay 2013 - In 2013, the benefits of 10 of the largest tax expenditures will equal 11.7 percent of income for households in the lowest income quintile, 9.4 percent for the highest quintile, and under 8 percent for the middle quintiles, CBO estimates.
Effective Marginal Tax Rates for Low- and Moderate-Income WorkersNov 2012 - Effective marginal tax rates among low- and moderate-income workers are about 30 percent, on average, with about one-third of that rate stemming from the federal income tax, more than a third from federal payroll taxes, and the remainder from state income taxes and the phaseout of SNAP benefits.
Latest Work
H.R. 3393, Student and Family Tax Simplification Act
Cost EstimateJuly 7, 2014H.R. 4935, Child Tax Credit Improvement Act of 2014
Cost EstimateJuly 3, 2014H.R. 3086, Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act
Cost EstimateJune 26, 2014Coverage Effects of Limiting the Tax Exclusion for Employment-Based Health Insurance
PresentationJune 23, 2014Answers to Questions for the Record Following a Hearing on the Budget and Economic Outlook for 2014 to 2024 Conducted by the House Committee on the Budget
ReportJune 19, 2014Projections of Tax Expenditures
Blog PostJune 19, 2014Answers to Questions for the Record Following a Hearing on the Budget and Economic Outlook for 2014 to 2024 Conducted by the Senate Committee on the Budget
ReportJune 10, 2014Answers to Questions for the Record Following a Hearing on New Routes for Funding and Financing Highways and Transit Conducted by the Senate Committee on Finance
ReportJune 9, 2014
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