Wow

Biggest tax revenue drop since 1932

 

The recession is starving the government of tax revenue.

 

The numbers could hardly be more stark:

 

Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion.

 

…Individual income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago.

 

Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent.

 

Social Security tax receipts could drop for only the second time since 1940, and Medicare taxes are on pace to drop for only the third time ever.

 

The last time the government's revenues were this bleak, the year was 1932 in the midst of the Depression.

 

…Under the worst [case scenario], Social Security would start to pay out more money than it received in taxes in 2013, and the fund would be depleted in 2029.

 

Stephen Ohlemacher

Associated Press, August 3, 2009