(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration promised that a package of tax cuts would essentially pay for itself with higher revenue generated by a stronger U.S. economy. Just over a year later, there is a clear trend in receipts -- but it’s down.
Government revenues, compared with the same month a year earlier, have declined for 10 months in the past year since the Republican-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act took effect in January 2018, according to Treasury Department data released on Tuesday. That’s the most in such a period since at least 2009 in the aftermath of the financial crisis. President Donald Trump’s tax cuts costing $1.5 trillion over a decade have yet to spur a revenue windfall.
During the first four months of the government’s fiscal year through January, total revenue slumped 2 percent to $1.1 trillion.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was among officials saying the package of tax cuts to individuals and corporations would boost spending and corporate investment, leading to greater economic output. While the cuts did rev up economic growth in the second and third quarter this year for the best back-to-back gains since 2014 and surpassed Trump’s 2018 target, growth is already cooling and set to slow further this year.
