How to Read the Monthly Treasury Statement — Receipts, Outlays, the Federal Deficit and How It Is Financed
How to read the Monthly Treasury Statement: fiscal year 2026 closed with a $1.992 trillion deficit, receipts of $5.4 trillion and outlays of $7.4 trillion.
Key figures (Monthly Treasury Statement, September 2026 and fiscal year 2026)
As of 26 October 2026 (KST); latest statement: the final Monthly Treasury Statement for fiscal year 2026, covering receipts and outlays through September 30, 2026, from the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The statement says: "The release date for the October 2026 Statement will be 2:00 p.m. EST November 12, 2026." The dataset page shows "Last Updated 10/23/2026" and "New Data Expected 11/12/2026". Primary source: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/published-reports/mts/MonthlyTreasuryStatement_202609.pdf[1][2]
| Indicator (U.S. federal government, billions of dollars) | Previous (August 2026) | Current (September 2026) | Change vs previous (this page's calculation) | Change vs year ago (September 2025; this page's calculation) | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total receipts | 360.0 | 557.9 | +197.8 | +14.2 from 543.7 | levels: Treasury (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) primary statistical record (Table 1); changes: this page's calculation from Table 1 |
| Total outlays | 526.8 | 584.8 | +58.0 | +239.1 from 345.7 | levels: Treasury (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) primary statistical record (Table 1); changes: this page's calculation from Table 1 |
| Deficit | 166.8 | 26.9 | deficit smaller by 139.9 | from a surplus of 197.9 to a deficit of 26.9 (a swing of 224.8) | levels: Treasury (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) primary statistical record (Table 1); changes: this page's calculation from Table 1 |
| Borrowing from the public (net, in the month) | 369.4 | 2.9 | -366.5 | monthly FY 2025 values not shown in this statement; fiscal-year totals 1,973.1 (FY 2025) and 2,073.0 (FY 2026) | levels: Treasury (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) primary statistical record (Tables 2 and 7); changes: this page's calculation from Tables 2 and 7 |
| Treasury operating cash (Federal Reserve account), end of month | 1,023.6 | 984.0 | -39.5 | +93.2 from 890.8 at the start of the fiscal year (published fiscal-year-to-date change) | levels: Treasury (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) primary statistical record (Table 6); changes: this page's calculation from Table 6 |
Comparison basis: the statement's tables are in millions of dollars ("All values are reported in millions of U.S. dollars."), and this page rounds them to $0.1 billion, so rounded figures may not add exactly; the statement itself notes that details may not add to totals due to rounding. All monthly and year-ago changes in the table are this page's calculations from Table 1 (receipts, outlays and deficit by month for fiscal years 2025 and 2026), Table 2, Table 6 and Table 7. The statement is a single primary source from the Treasury; the dataset page is the same publisher's description of it, so the two count as one source.[1][2]
In three lines
1. The Monthly Treasury Statement adds up what the federal government collected (receipts) and spent (outlays), and how it covered the gap.
2. For fiscal year 2026 the statement reports a deficit of $1.992 trillion, against $1,775.4 billion for fiscal year 2025.
3. September 2026 alone showed a deficit of $26.9 billion; the October 2026 statement is due November 12, 2026.[1]
Fiscal year 2026 against fiscal year 2025
| Item (billions of dollars) | FY 2025 (comparable period) | FY 2026 | Change (this page's calculation) | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total receipts | 5,234.6 | 5,403.3 | +168.7 (+3.2%) | Table 1 |
| Total outlays | 7,010.0 | 7,395.8 | +385.8 (+5.5%) | Table 1 |
| Deficit | 1,775.4 | 1,992.5 | +217.1 (+12.2%) | Table 1 |
| Individual income taxes | 2,656.0 | 2,845.5 | +189.5 | Table 3 |
| Corporation income taxes | 452.1 | 381.4 | -70.7 | Table 3 |
| Customs duties (net of refunds) | 194.9 | 173.2 | -21.6 | Tables 3 and 4 |
| Social Security (outlays by function) | 1,580.7 | 1,667.1 | +86.4 | Table 9 |
| Medicare (outlays by function) | 996.7 | 1,072.6 | +75.9 | Table 9 |
| Net interest (outlays by function) | 970.4 | 1,051.8 | +81.4 | Table 9 |
| National defense (outlays by function) | 916.6 | 965.2 | +48.5 | Table 9 |
| Borrowing from the public | 1,973.1 | 2,073.0 | +99.9 | Table 2 |
Individual income taxes were 2,845.5 of 5,403.3 billion dollars of total receipts in fiscal year 2026, or 52.7% (this page's calculation; denominator: total receipts in Table 3). Table 2 also lists budget estimates for the full fiscal year of 5,475.7 billion dollars of receipts and 7,540.4 billion dollars of outlays, so actual receipts and outlays both came in below those estimates (this page's comparison).[1]
What the statement is (in the Treasury's words)
"The Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government (MTS) is prepared by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Department of the Treasury and, after approval by the Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, is normally released on the 8th workday of the month following the reporting month."[1]
Accounting basis. "Information is presented on a modified cash basis; receipts are accounted for on the basis of collections; refunds of receipts are treated as deductions from gross receipts; revolving and management fund receipts, reimbursements and refunds of monies previously expended are treated as deductions from gross outlays; and interest on the public debt (public issues) is recognized on the accrual basis."[1]
How it fits with other Treasury reports. "The Daily Treasury Statement is published each working day of the Federal Government." "The MTS is a report of Government receipts and outlays, based on agency reporting."[1]
Surplus and deficit. "A surplus occurs if the total value of receipts exceeds the value of outlays, and a deficit occurs when the value of outlays exceeds the value of receipts."[2]
Reading in pairs
Gross vs net customs duties. Table 4 shows fiscal year 2026 customs duties of 317,804 million dollars gross, refunds of 144,586 million and 173,219 million net; for fiscal year 2025 the figures were 202,357 million gross and 7,492 million in refunds. Because the statement deducts refunds from gross receipts (see its accounting basis quoted above), Table 7 shows net customs duties below zero in May (-42 million), June (-25,556 million) and July 2026 (-8,546 million). In September 2026, gross customs duties were 25,272 million and refunds 19,361 million. Adding the components in million-dollar units can differ from the published net by 1 million because of rounding: 317,804 minus 144,586 is 173,218 against the published 173,219, and 202,357 minus 7,492 is 194,865 against the published 194,866 (this page's calculation; the table notes: "Details may not add to totals due to rounding."). The statement does not explain the refunds.[1]
Gross interest vs net interest. Interest on Treasury debt securities (gross) was 1,360.0 billion dollars in fiscal year 2026 (Tables 3 and 5), while net interest as a budget function was 1,051.8 billion (Table 9). Table 5 lists interest received by trust funds of 217,671 million dollars as an undistributed offsetting receipt. The dataset notes add: "The MTS only reports interest that has been paid out of the Treasury Account Symbol 20X0550 - Interest on the Public Debt."[1][2]
On-budget vs off-budget. Table 2 splits the fiscal year 2026 deficit into an on-budget deficit of 1,815.9 billion dollars and an off-budget deficit of 176.6 billion. "Outlays of off-budget Federal entities are excluded by law from budget totals." Social Security's two trust funds are off-budget entities in the statement's tables.[1]
Deficit vs financing. Table 2 shows how the fiscal year 2026 deficit was covered: borrowing from the public of 2,072,997 million dollars, an increase in operating cash of 93,220 million (shown as a negative reduction) and 12,697 million by other means. Borrowing minus the cash increase plus other means comes to 1,992,474 million against the published deficit of 1,992,473 million (this page's calculation). Table 2 carries the note "Details may not add to totals due to rounding."[1]
One month vs the fiscal year. "Outlays for veterans benefit payments shifted from September 1, 2026, to August 2026." Table 7 shows veterans' compensation and pensions of 18,823 million dollars in August 2026 and 1,406 million in September 2026, so single-month comparisons around that date mix in the timing shift.[1]
Reading the dataset tables
Subtotals. "MTS datasets include total and subtotal rows that should be excluded when aggregating data."[2]
Payroll taxes are estimated first. "Thus, the MTS reports Social Security and Medicare taxes as estimated amounts and reports individual income taxes as the residual of the combined payments minus the Social Security and Medicare estimated amounts."[2]
Debt in the same statement. Table 6 shows debt held by the public of 32,425,012 million dollars (about $32.4 trillion) and total Treasury securities outstanding of 40,171,825 million (about $40.2 trillion) at the close of September 2026; in the same table, total Treasury securities outstanding equals debt held by the public plus intragovernmental holdings of 7,746,813 million (32,425,012 plus 7,746,813 is 40,171,825).[1]
Trust funds. Table 8 shows the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund with fiscal year 2026 receipts of 1,284,047 million dollars and outlays of 1,504,618 million, an excess of outlays of 220,571 million; its securities held as investments fell from 2,400,808 million at the start of the year to 2,180,424 million.[1]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
The final Monthly Treasury Statement for fiscal year 2026 shows a federal deficit of $1.992 trillion (1,992,473 million dollars), with receipts of 5,403,327 million and outlays of 7,395,800 million.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
For fiscal year 2025, the comparable figures were receipts of 5,234,616 million dollars, outlays of 7,009,986 million and a deficit of 1,775,369 million.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
In September 2026, receipts were 557,875 million dollars and outlays 584,775 million, a deficit of 26,900 million; in September 2025 there was a surplus of 197,938 million.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Net customs duties were 173,219 million dollars in fiscal year 2026 after refunds of 144,586 million, compared with 194,866 million net in fiscal year 2025.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The statement says the October 2026 Monthly Treasury Statement will be released at 2:00 p.m. EST on November 12, 2026.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Statements and readings
Not counted as facts — each item shows what kind of statement it isFrom here on: statements not counted as facts — single-source reports, the issuing body’s own statements, and this page’s own readings, each labeled.
The fiscal year 2026 deficit was 217.1 billion dollars, or 12.2%, larger than in fiscal year 2025; receipts rose 3.2% and outlays 5.5%.[1] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's calculation from Table 1 of the statement
Individual income taxes were 52.7% of total receipts in fiscal year 2026.[1] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's calculation from Table 3 of the statement
Actual fiscal year 2026 receipts (5,403.3 billion dollars) and outlays (7,395.8 billion) were both below the budget estimates listed in Table 2 (5,475.7 billion and 7,540.4 billion).[1] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's comparison of Tables 2 and 1 of the statement
Timeline
What this page could not establish
These are questions this page tried to answer and could not. The gaps are left open rather than filled with a guess.- Why were customs duty refunds so large in fiscal year 2026?
- Why were outlays in September 2025 lower than in September 2026?
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 10/26/2026, 00:06
- Body characters
- 9,201
- Sources
- 2 sources adopted
- Model
- ChatGPT (checked sources on the web)
- Time
- 10/26/2026, 00:11
- Verdict
- Revision required
Show revision history (3)
| 10/26/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 10/26/2026 | First version. Read in full the 39-page final Monthly Treasury Statement for fiscal year 2026 (all tables 1 to 9 and schedules A to E, every row, plus the explanatory notes and release notice) and the Treasury's dataset page for the statement, including its notes and known limitations; quotations are complete sentences matched against the source text. | Updated |
| 10/26/2026 | Revised after review: the September 2025 surplus of 197,938 million dollars was confirmed in Tables 1 and 7; the customs paragraph now notes that components added in million-dollar units can differ from the published net by 1 million because of rounding; the financing paragraph cites the statement's rounding note; the debt paragraph now states that total Treasury securities outstanding equals debt held by the public plus intragovernmental holdings; and the monthly table separates published levels from this page's calculated changes in the evidence column. | Updated |
Frequently asked
How big was the federal deficit in fiscal year 2026?
The final Monthly Treasury Statement puts the fiscal year 2026 deficit at $1.992 trillion (1,992,473 million dollars), as of 26 October 2026. Receipts were 5,403,327 million and outlays 7,395,800 million.[1]
How does that compare with fiscal year 2025?
The fiscal year 2025 deficit in the same table was 1,775,369 million dollars, so fiscal year 2026 was about 217.1 billion larger (this page's calculation).[1]
What should I know about the September 2026 figure?
September 2026 showed a deficit of 26,900 million dollars. The statement notes that veterans benefit payments due September 1, 2026, were paid in August 2026, which affects comparisons between those two months; it does not otherwise explain the monthly result.[1]
Why were customs duties negative in some months?
Table 7 shows net customs duties of -25,556 million dollars in June 2026 because the statement deducts refunds from gross receipts, and refunds exceeded gross collections in that month. The statement does not say why refunds were large.[1]
Why is gross interest bigger than net interest?
Gross interest on Treasury debt securities was 1,360.0 billion dollars in fiscal year 2026 while net interest as a budget function was 1,051.8 billion: they are different lines in different tables, and Table 5 shows interest received by trust funds of 217,671 million dollars recorded as an offsetting receipt.[1][2]
How was the deficit financed?
In fiscal year 2026, borrowing from the public was 2,072,997 million dollars, operating cash rose 93,220 million and other means added 12,697 million, according to Table 2.[1]