WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. budget deficit for February was nearly flat with a year earlier at $308 billion as growth in receipts and outlays were largely even, with receipts from President Donald Trump’s tariffs not yet reflecting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against many of his duties last month.
February receipts came in at $313 billion, up $17 billion or 6% from a year earlier, while outlays for the month totaled $621 billion, up $17 billion or 3% from February 2025. The year-on-year monthly comparison reflected the first full month in the Trump administration.
Receipt growth was driven in part by a $15 billion increase in individual withheld income taxes in February, partly reflecting the payment of 2025 year-end bonuses, a Treasury official said. This was offset by a $7 billion increase in corporate tax refunds and a $6 billion increase in individual tax refunds driven by last year’s Republican-passed tax cut legislation.
The report showed a slight cooling of net customs duties in February to $26.6 billion, compared with $27.7 billion in January and over $30 billion in the final months of last year.
But the Treasury official said the budget data largely does not reflect tariff reductions due to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as illegal, as tariffs are generally paid a month in arrears. The Customs and Border Protection agency stopped assessing those tariffs on imports starting on February 24.
The official said it was unclear how any IEEPA tariff refunds would show up in the data.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
