Federal Budget Process: Taxes, Spending, Debt, and Deficit

Federal Budget 101, one of NPP’s most popular resources, just got a facelift. We’ve added information about spending through the tax code, and a new graphic that shows how it all fits together, and three videos:

Nowhere else can you find accessible, easy-to-understand information about how the federal budget is supposed to work, where our money comes from, and how we spend it.

Federal Budget Process

In Budget Process, Federal Budget 101 walks you through the annual cycle of creating the U.S. federal budget. Hint: lawmakers haven’t been playing by the rules in many years, making it harder for people to have input into how their tax dollars are spent.

Where Does the Money Come From?

In fiscal year 2015 a projected 46% of federal tax revenue will come from individual income taxes. That’s why it’s so important for us to understand the process for deciding how the U.S. will spend our money. Other sources of revenue include corporate taxes, payroll taxes, and borrowing.  Federal Budget 101 shows it all on Federal Revenue: Where Does the Money Come From.

 Where Does the Money Go?

President Obama’s 2015 budget request proposes $3.9 trillion in spending. That includes discretionary spending; mandatory spending on items like Social Security, Medicare, food assistance, and unemployment benefits; and paying interest on the debt.

Another way the U.S. spends money is through the tax code, and the updated Federal Spending: Where Does the Money Go covers that too. Hint: in fiscal year 2015, we’re projected to spend more money through the tax code than through the discretionary budget.

Borrowing and the Federal Debt

Why does the U.S. borrow money, how much are we borrowing, and who holds our debt? Look no further than the Borrowing and the Federal Debt section of Federal Budget 101.

Federal Budget Glossary

What’s the difference between an appropriation and an authorization? Between the deficit and the federal debt? Federal Budget 101’s updated Federal Budget Glossary has the answers.