How does the federal government spend its money? Q.How does the federal government spend its money? A.Federal spending totaled $6.3 trillion in 2023. About 66 percent of the total was for mandatory programs not subject to regular budget review, while nearly 26 percent covered discretionary programs for which Congress must regularly appropriate funds. Eight percent went for interest on government debt (figure 1). Read more about How does the federal government spend its money?
What are tax expenditures and how are they structured? Q.What are tax expenditures and how are they structured? A.Tax expenditures are special provisions of the tax code such as exclusions, deductions, deferrals, credits, and tax rates that benefit specific activities or groups of taxpayers. Read more about What are tax expenditures and how are they structured?
How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affect tax expenditures? Q.How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affect tax expenditures? A.The TCJA reduced some tax expenditure provisions, eliminated others, and introduced and expanded still others. In addition to these direct changes in tax expenditure provisions, an increase in the standard deduction and lower individual and corporate tax rates reduced the number of taxpayers using tax expenditure provisions and the value of the tax benefits they receive. Read more about How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affect tax expenditures?