Posted on 03/14/2018 4:35:49 AM PDT by IBD editorial writer
Tax Cuts: The latest monthly Treasury report on taxes and spending shows that gross tax receipts in February were $1.4 billion higher than the year before. Weren't the Republican tax cuts supposed to explode the deficit?
X According to the report, the government took in $238.2 billion in taxes in February. The year before, tax revenues were $236.8 billion.
For fiscal year 2018, which started last October, taxes are up $50.5 billion compared with the same months last year, and are at a record high level for this five-month span.
The report does show that net receipts were lower in February compared with last year, but the main reason is that individual income tax refunds jumped $13.3 billion, while corporate tax refunds went up $4 billion, neither of which is the result of the tax cuts that took effect in January.
Even so, net receipts are up by $29.6 billion for the current fiscal year — a 2.4% increase — compared with the same period last year. That's also a record high.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
“Not exactly. Income taxes collected in February were down $2.5 billion from last year — reflecting the new withholding tables. Corporate income tax collections, however, were essentially flat.
But remember, income taxes are hardly the only source of revenue for the federal government. And a faster-growing economy means more money pouring in from these other sources.
Payroll taxes, for example, are dependent on the number of people working and their wages. In February, the economy added 313,000 jobs, unemployment levels are now at or near record lows, and wages are climbing.
As a result, payroll taxes brought in $1.5 billion more in February than they did last year, and are up $11.4 billion this fiscal year. Federal excise taxes and customs duties are up $3.8 billion and $1 billion, respectively, this fiscal year.”
No surprise here - happens every time.
The tax cuts ARE paying for themselves hence the record Federal tax revenues despite the massive tax cuts. However, Federal spending also hit new records, this negating the effects of the record revenues and increasing the deficit. Spending will have to come down.
Of course, they don't believe or hear the evidence in the Laffer Curve either.
When you come right down to it, we are in a struggle that a quote from Whitaker Chambers seems to sum up:
On a scale personal enough to be felt by all, but big enough to be symbolic, the two irreconcilable faiths of our time - Communism and Freedom - came to grips in the persons of two conscious and resolute men.
Substitute "Leftism" for "Communism", and "two groups" for "two men" and it fits well.
lol. Only if. However, I’d rather see the 50 billion since the law passed put towards the national debt. Yes I know that is a day or two of interest, but we have to work on it. If not by the time Trump leaves office the debt will be 35 trillion (8 years) if not more. Every President has ignored the debt starting with Reagan.
Heh, I had made a mental note while typing to include that and I forgot. That is true.
People of all stripes who don’t believe in the concept feel strongly that they want their hands on the levers to manually control it.
But, like landing a plane on a carrier using computer control, or flying an F-111 using computers to follow irregular terrain, the unseen hand of the computer guiding it will do it far better than you grabbing the stick and trying to control it yourself.
OF COURSE!! CUT TAXES, SUPERHEAT THE ECONOMY, RAISES REVENUES.
Coolidge, Kennedy and Reagan PROVED IT.
The problem is that we have no idea what revenue would have been like without the tax cuts. Would it be higher than the actual receipts? Lower? Nobody knows, so you can't say that the tax cuts are paying for themselves.
Which is why cutting spending is the most important part of any tax cut. And historically we don't do that.
Read post #21.
Guess this must say something about the normal Democrat plan.
Abolish the baseline budget process and adopt the penny plan.
Zero base budgeting will give the idiots in washington something to occupy their time besides meddling and the penny plan will make them reduce cost.
Almost all of us do. What a great time that was. The current guy is OK but no Gippper.
But they ARE one of the only taxes dems/liberals like to talk about. Can't play class warfare as easily with sales taxes...
No.
Some activities of the Fed.Gov are Constitutionally mandated. Some are Constitutionally permitted. Some are Constitutionally FORBIDDEN. Fed.Gov spending is not all equal and should not be treated equally. Some categories Fed.Gov spending should be reduced to zero, and the related agencies abolished.
No, this is below what can be expected from personal income growth/GDP growth. Its a very small %increase.
You don’t understand zero base budgeting or baseline budgeting fi this is what you think.
You don’t understand the Constitution if you have any objection to my post.
have a nice life.
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