Breakdown of us tax revenue
Executive summary
The United States raises revenue across federal, state, and local levels that totaled roughly $11–12 trillion in 2026 when combining all three levels, with federal receipts alone budgeted near $5.8 trillion for FY2026 (sources vary by dataset and method) [1] [2] [3]. The bulk of federal tax receipts come from individual income and payroll (social insurance) taxes, followed by consumption and corporate taxes, though different trackers and agencies report slightly different totals and labels [4] [5].
1. What “tax revenue” means and how much the U.S. collects
“Tax revenue” here refers to receipts governments collect from taxes, fees, and other government-run charges; at the federal level those receipts were reported around $5.2–5.9 trillion for recent fiscal years and budgeted at about $5.87 trillion for FY2026 in commonly used public trackers [6] [1] [7]. When analysts add state and local collections the total U.S. public-sector revenue is typically “guesstimated” in the $10–12 trillion range for 2026, with different private compilers producing figures like $10.42 trillion, $11.17 trillion, and $11.73 trillion—differences that reflect methodology, timing, and interpolation choices [8] [3] [7] [2].
2. The big buckets: which taxes produce the most revenue
Federal receipts are dominated by two categories: individual income taxes and payroll (social insurance) taxes, with corporate income taxes and excise/consumption taxes making up smaller shares; CBO and fiscal data emphasize individual and payroll taxes as the largest federal sources [4] [9]. Tax Foundation breakdowns show social insurance taxes account for about 24 percent of federal receipts, consumption (sales and excise) roughly 16.8 percent, and corporate income taxes near 8.3 percent in recent years, illustrating the outsized role of payroll and individual income collections [5].
3. Recent trends and policy drivers
Receipts and shares shift as policy changes and the economy evolve: the OBBBA (legislative changes referenced in reporting) and other tax-law adjustments affect the distribution of burden and total receipts—independent trackers estimated meaningful revenue and distribution impacts for 2025–2026, and fiscal monitors like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget highlight how recent legislation changed deficit trajectories even while nominal revenue totals rose [10] [11]. Analysts also note that headline budgeted figures differ from actual collections reported in lagging Monthly Treasury or FRED series, so short-term comparisons require care [12] [13].
4. Where reporting diverges and why numbers differ
Public sources diverge for two reasons: timing (budgeted vs. collected), level (federal only vs. federal+state+local), and methodology (what counts as “revenue” or whether projections are “guesstimates”); sites like usgovernmentrevenue/usgovernmentspending label state/local totals as guesstimates and reconcile to OMB/Census inputs, while Treasury’s Fiscal Data publishes monthly receipts but can show placeholders or incomplete visualizations depending on refresh cycles [7] [12] [2]. That divergence explains why one source reports FY2025 federal revenue as $5.23 trillion while another cites $5.48 trillion or a FY2026 budget target of $5.87 trillion [6] [1] [7].
5. What this means for policy debates
Because payroll and individual income taxes are the largest streams, debates over Social Security, Medicare funding, and individual tax cuts or credits have outsized effects on projected receipts; the Congressional Budget Office emphasizes that revenue projections hinge on economic growth assumptions and tax-enforcement resources, and independent fiscal groups warn some recent tax policy choices will increase deficits in coming years [4] [11]. Alternative viewpoints exist: some analysts stress that lower statutory corporate rates explain the smaller corporate share and argue for base-broadening rather than rate increases, while others contend stronger enforcement or higher top rates are the clearest routes to raise revenue—each route carries distinct economic and distributional tradeoffs [5] [4].
6. Limits of available reporting
Available sources provide clear high-level categories and multiple headline totals, but cannot be reconciled perfectly within the confines of this briefing: official monthly and historical receipts are maintained by Treasury and the St. Louis Fed (FRED) while private compilers produce aggregated federal+state+local “guesstimates,” so exact totals depend on which series and cutoffs are used—reporting here relies on those public trackers and notes their labels and caveats [12] [13] [3].