US records biggest budget surplus in 7 years

A flood of tax payments pushed government receipts to an all-time high in April and left the country with the largest monthly budget surplus in seven years.

In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday that the April surplus totaled USD 156.7 billion, up from a surplus of USD 106.9 billion a year earlier. It was the largest surplus since April 2008.

Government receipts totaled USD 471.8 billion, the largest monthly total on record. Receipts for the first seven months of the budget came to USD 1.89 trillion, the biggest seven-month total ever. Tax receipts have climbed thanks to an improving economy, which has boosted individual and corporate tax payments.

Through the first seven months of the budget year that began in October, the deficit totaled USD 282.8 billion, 7.7 percent below last year. The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting a full-year deficit of USD 486 billion, roughly on par with the previous year. From October through April, revenues totaled USD 1.89 trillion, up 8.9 percent from the same period last year.

Individual payroll taxes and Social Security taxes are running 6 percent higher than a year ago, while individual taxes on stock dividends, capital gains and payments by the self-employed are running 17 percent above last year. .