The U.S. budget deficit grew 77% in the first 4 months of the 2019 fiscal year (beginning Oct. 1) from the year prior, driven by sweeping tax cuts passed at the end of 2017 and increased federal spending.
The big picture: President Trump is acting true to history. Every Republican president since Reagan has left office with a budget deficit higher than the one he inherited. Clinton and Obama, by contrast, left office with smaller deficits.
By the numbers: If you look at the breakdown of Treasury receipts in fiscal 2018, almost every category went up, year-on-year. Individual income tax receipts, for instance, rose by 6%, or $96 billion.
- The exception is corporate income taxes. They totaled $297 billion in fiscal 2017, and just $205 billion in fiscal 2018. That's a decline of $92 billion, or 31%.
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