Key facts
- The Treasury Department said the October deficit was $120 billion, or 42%, above the year-earlier level.
- Individual non-withheld taxes were $29 billion, or 36%, lower than a year earlier, when wildfire-related filing delays lifted receipts.
- After calendar adjustments for shifted November benefit payments, the Treasury said the deficit would have been $285 billion, up $94 billion, or 49%.
- USDA spending rose $14 billion, or 80%, on farm relief payments, and military spending rose $28 billion, or 30%.
- Gross interest on the federal debt rose $11 billion, or 11%, to $115 billion.
The US government began the 2027 fiscal year with a $404 billion budget deficit in October, the Treasury Department said on November 12, 2026. The figure was a record for the month and $120 billion, or 42%, higher than a year earlier, as receipts shrank and outlays grew.
October receipts fell $35 billion, or 9%, to $369 billion, due partly to lower net customs duty collections. Individual non-withheld taxes were $29 billion, or 36%, lower than year-ago levels, which the Treasury said were swelled by tax filing deadlines delayed for Californians affected by the 2025 wildfires.
Outlays came to a record $773 billion for October, up $84 billion, or 12%, from a year earlier. The Treasury said the increase was driven in part by a $14 billion, or 80%, rise in Department of Agriculture spending on farm relief payments and a $28 billion, or 30%, rise in military spending, including an October payment to military trust funds delayed by last year's government shutdown, along with increases across operations, maintenance and procurement.
Gross interest on the federal debt rose $11 billion, or 11%, from the previous October to $115 billion. After calendar-related adjustments made because November benefit payments were shifted into October in both fiscal years, the Treasury said the adjusted deficit would have been $285 billion, an increase of $94 billion, or 49%, from the year-ago period.