January, a month when both individuals and corporations make tax payments, has run surpluses in 26 of the past 65 years. The $8.7 billion surplus in January was down from a larger $49.2 billion surplus in January 2018. Those costs are generally passed on to American consumers. companies importing the products into the U.S. These border taxes aren't paid by the countries where the goods are being produced but rather by the U.S. Meanwhile, the government collected less in taxes from individuals and corporations, reflecting the impact of the $1.5 trillion tax cut President Donald Trump pushed through Congress in late 2017. The higher deficit reflected greater spending in areas such as Social Security, defense and interest payments on the national debt. That's up from $175.7 billion in the same period a year ago - and that includes the January surplus of $8.7 billion. The Treasury Department said Tuesday the deficit for the first four months of fiscal 2019 totaled $310.3 billion. 1, the total deficit is 77 percent higher than it was for the same period a year ago. But so far for this fiscal year starting Oct. The federal government recorded a budget surplus in January. Tax revenues were lower following the new tax cuts, with corporate payments down 23 percent.Spending on Social Security, defense and interest payments was higher.budget gap climbed to $310.3 billion from October to January, up from $175.7 the previous year

Deficit spending by year