What is the tax expenditure budget? Q.What is the tax expenditure budget? A.The tax expenditure budget displays the estimated revenue losses from special exclusions, exemptions, deductions, credits, deferrals, and preferential tax rates in federal income tax law. Read more about What is the tax expenditure budget?
What is mandatory and discretionary spending? Q.What is mandatory and discretionary spending? A.Lawmakers can control all spending except the interest due on government debts. However, discretionary spending often gets more scrutiny than mandatory spending or tax breaks that function much like spending programs. One reason for this imbalance is that discretionary spending must be re-approved each year. In contrast, most mandatory spending and tax expenditures continue from year-to-year without new approval. Read more about What is mandatory and discretionary spending?
What are the sources of revenue for the federal government? Q.What are the sources of revenue for the federal government? A.Over half of federal revenue comes from individual income taxes, 9 percent from corporate income taxes, and another 30 percent from payroll taxes that fund social insurance programs (figure 1). The rest comes from a mix of sources. Read more about What are the sources of revenue for the federal government?