Updated: 11-Feb-26 14:35 ET
Highlights
- The Treasury's budget deficit was $94.6 billion in January (Briefing.com consensus: -$190.0B), which was much narrower than expected and a notable improvement from the same period a year ago when it was $128.6 billion.
- Receipts totaled $559.9 billion, while outlays summed to $654.6 billion.
- Individual Income Taxes were the largest source of receipts in January ($317 billion), followed by Social Insurance & Retirement Receipts ($170 billion). Corporate income taxes brought in $31 billion. Customs Duties brought in $28 billion, bringing the fiscal year-to-date total to $118 billion.
- The largest outlays by function were Medicare ($149 billion), Social Security ($138 billion), Health ($77 billion), and Net Interest ($76 billion).
- The fiscal year-to-date deficit is $697.0 billion versus $839.6 billion in the same period a year ago.
- The budget deficit over the last 12 months is $1.633 trillion versus $1.667 trillion in December.
- The key takeaway from the report is that it shows the benefits of collecting customs duties as a means of reducing the deficit. At the same time, it also reflects the onerous interest costs stemming from the high amount of debt issuance needed to fund government operations.
| Category | JAN | DEC | NOV | OCT | SEP |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus | -$94.6B | -$144.7B | -$173.3B | -$284.4B | $198.0B |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus Fiscal YTD | -$697.0B | -$602.3B | -$457.7B | -$284.4B | -$1775.0B |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus over last 12 months | -$1632.8B | -$1666.8B | -$1609.0B | -$1802.3B | -$1775.0B |
