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- Tax deductions, exemptions, and credits function as a government subsidy to encourage a type of behavior or activity.
- Tax deductions for home mortgage interest.
- Each exemption or deduction favors some people or activities at the expense of others.
- very tax break “costs” the government money in lost revenue.
- Since exemptions, deductions, and credits result in lost government revenue, some economists think of these items as a form of government spending.
-  Many exemptions and deductions were added to the tax code at the urging of special interest groups or lobbyists.

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- Both income and social insurance taxes are levied as a percentage of a taxpayer’s income, so people with no income do not pay these taxes.
- The income tax is a progressive tax.
- This means that people with higher incomes pay a larger share of their income in tax than do people with lower incomes.
- A regressive tax would make people with lower incomes pay a larger share of their income in taxes than people with higher incomes.
- Income tax is calculated based on a person’s taxable income. It includes wages, tips, commission, investment income, lottery or gambling winnings, and more.
- Tax laws allow people to reduce their total taxable income through a variety of deductions and exemptions.
- Throughout the year, employers take money out of workers’ paychecks and send it to the federal government.
- This withholding pays the anticipated taxes owed.
- Then at the end of the year, nearly everyone who had an income that year must file a report with the federal government—a tax return.
- The deadline for filing income tax returns each year is April 15.

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- Taxes are payments made by individuals and businesses to support government activities and provide government services.
- As you will learn, decisions about how to raise and spend government funds are almost always political.
- Every time a tax law is changed or created, someone wins and someone loses.
- When you think of taxes today, the individual income tax likely comes to mind.
- The individual income tax as we know it today is a relatively recent addition to our government, however. Until the 1890s, the federal government relied on tariffs, or taxes levied on imported goods, for revenue.
- Excise taxes are taxes on the manufacture, transportation, sale, or consumption of goods and the performance of services—gas and cigarette taxes are excise taxes,
- The federal government imposes excise taxes to raise revenue or to protect domestic business and agriculture from foreign competition.
- The Constitution places some limits on Congress’s power to tax, however.
- These limits meant that Congress could not institute an income tax until the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified, authorizing one.

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- About 70 percent of the federal budget consists of what are called uncontrollables.
- Uncontrollables are expenditures required by law or resulting from previous budgetary commitments.
- Most uncontrollables are direct benefit payments and interest payments on the national debt.
- A major part of uncontrollable spending goes to pay for direct benefits, known as entitlements.
- Entitlements are benefits that Congress must by law provide to individuals.
- They include Social Security, pensions for retired government employees, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans’ benefits.
- Discretionary spending is usually thought of in two categories—defense and nondefense.
- One of the larger portions of the budget pays for national defense and the Department of Defense budget.
- These expenditures fund the U.S. military and the weapons, aircraft, ships, and troops necessary to fight in wars and defend the United States.

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- Congress takes the president’s proposals and makes final budget decisions.
- Congress can revise the president’s budget proposals as it sees fit.
- Conflict between Congress and the president over the budget is inevitable, particularly when a different party controls one or both houses of Congress.
- Even if the president’s party controls Congress, lawmakers may have different ideas than the president as to how money should be allocated.
- Key lawmakers and the president often must negotiate different parts of the budget. Compromises are usually necessary on both sides before a budget is passed.
- Once the budget is approved and Congress has appropriated the funds, it becomes the responsibility of executive branch officials to manage the money their departments have been given.
- They must keep track of their expenditures and revenues.
-  Congress has the power of oversight and can hold hearings or require reports from executive branch officials to make sure the budget is being implemented according to plan.
- Although this process is well established, Congress in recent years has repeatedly failed to agree on a budget.

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- The budget process begins with the president, executive agency leaders, and economic analysts from the White House. - Each federal agency and department draws up a list of its own spending plans.
- Their budget plans express important political choices because they aim to promote the administration’s policies and priorities.
- The department secretaries send their spending plans to the director of the Office of Management and Budget which functions as part of the Executive Office of the President.
- OMB takes the first set of figures to the president, along with its analysis of the nation’s economic situation.
- The White House returns its decisions on the budget to the agencies and departments with guidelines to help them revise their plans.

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- Every year, the government creates a budget that predicts revenue and controls spending for that year.
- In the case of the federal budget, the year does not begin on January 1. Instead, it begins October 1 and runs through the following September 30.
- It takes a long time to make the federal budget plan.
- Typically, the government begins preparing the budget well before the fiscal year begins.
- The executive and legislative branches share in the responsibility of preparing the budget, though the Congress has more budgetary power overall.

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- Two of a government’s primary functions are to protect the nation’s economy and provide assistance and economic security to their people.
- To fulfill these purposes, every nation needs a budget and a set of economic goals.
- Economic goals vary somewhat, but generally, free-market and mixed economies value economic freedom, economic growth, full employment, economic equity, economic security, price stability, and economic efficiency.
- In the United States, economic goals, priorities, and policies are made by many people who make up the government.
- In our two-party system, it is common for our government especially our executive and legislative branches to be run by people with differing views and political ideologies.
- The ways in which the federal government collects and spends money reflect many economic goals.
- The nation’s budget is its plan for how much revenue it expects to take in and how it plans to spend money.
- The budget is created by elected and appointed officials in the executive and legislative branches, along with their staff.
- When revenue and spending are equal, the budget is balanced.
- When there is extra money left, it is called a budget surplus.
- Almost every year, however, the federal government spends more than it takes in, creating a budget deficit.