The Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government is prepared by the Financial Management Service, Department of the Treasury. For the first nine months of fiscal year 2009, outlays have averaged approximately $316 billion per month, while receipts have averaged approximately $176 billion per month for an average deficit of $140 billion per month.

A particularly troubling aspect of this chart is that receipts did not exceed outlays in April of this year. April is typically the month of highest receipts because individual taxpayers file their tax returns and pay their remaining tax liabilities for the preceding calendar year in April. And self-employed individuals pay their first quarter estimated tax payments in April, also. Receipts in April 2008 totaled $403 billion (the single highest month on record) whereas receipts in April 2009 totaled $266 billion, a decline of 34% in tax receipts. Since 1981, there has only been one other year (1986) in which Outlays exceeded Receipts during April.

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