How Much Tax Revenue Does the US Collect: Sources and Spending

The United States federal government collected $5.23 trillion in total revenue during fiscal year 2025, with individual income taxes and payroll taxes together supplying roughly 84 percent of the total.¹ Corporate income taxes, excise taxes, customs duties, and estate and gift taxes make up the remainder. That $5.23 trillion figure represents a 6.4 percent increase over the $4,918.1 billion collected in fiscal year 2024, and it reflects net receipts after the Treasury issued refunds to taxpayers. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30, so fiscal year 2025 covers October 2024 through September 2025.²

Federal Revenue by Source

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service publishes a full category-by-category breakdown once each fiscal year is closed and reconciled. The most recent complete breakdown covers fiscal year 2024:³

Individual income taxes: $2,426.1 billion (about 49% of receipts)
Social insurance and payroll taxes: $1,708.9 billion (about 35%)
Corporate income taxes: $529.9 billion (about 11%)
Excise taxes: $101.4 billion (about 2%)
Customs duties: $77.0 billion (about 2%)
Estate and gift taxes: $31.6 billion (about 1%)

Totals shift meaningfully from year to year. Fiscal year 2023 brought in only $4,439.3 billion, a 9.3 percent drop driven largely by lower individual income tax collections.⁴ Economic activity, employment, corporate profits, and legislative changes all move the numbers.

Individual Income Taxes

Individual income taxes are the single largest source of federal revenue and consistently account for about half of all collections. The Internal Revenue Code imposes the tax through a progressive bracket structure, meaning higher slices of income face higher rates.⁵ For 2026, the seven rates are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.⁶ The higher rate applies only to the portion of income that falls within each bracket, not to the whole amount.

Payroll Taxes

Payroll taxes are the second-largest source and, unlike income taxes that flow into general funds, they are earmarked specifically for Social Security and Medicare. Social insurance and retirement receipts totaled $1,708.9 billion in fiscal year 2024.³

If you work for an employer, the tax is split. Your employer withholds 6.2 percent for Social Security and 1.45 percent for Medicare from your paycheck, then matches those amounts, for a combined rate of 15.3 percent of wages.⁷ The Social Security portion applies only up to an annual wage base. For 2026, that cap is $184,500; earnings above it are not subject to the 6.2 percent Social Security tax.⁸ Medicare has no wage cap and applies to all earned income.

High earners pay more. An Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9 percent applies to wages above $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.⁹ Employers do not match this surcharge; the employee pays it in full.

If you’re self-employed, you owe both the employer and employee shares yourself, a combined self-employment tax of 15.3 percent (12.4 percent for Social Security, 2.9 percent for Medicare).¹⁰ You can deduct the employer-equivalent half when calculating your adjusted gross income.

Corporate Income Taxes

Corporate income taxes are the third-largest source of federal revenue and brought in $529.9 billion in fiscal year 2024.³ Every domestic corporation, and foreign corporations with income connected to a U.S. trade or business, owes tax on net profits at a flat rate of 21 percent.¹¹

Corporations generally pay in four quarterly installments due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year, rather than in a single annual payment.¹²

Excise Taxes, Customs Duties, and Estate Taxes

The remaining federal revenue comes from several smaller but meaningful sources that together contribute hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

Excise Taxes

Excise taxes are levied on specific goods and activities rather than on income. Fuel, tobacco, alcohol, airline tickets, and certain health-related items all carry federal excise taxes, usually embedded in the retail price. Excise taxes generated $101.4 billion in fiscal year 2024.³ The federal gasoline tax has stood at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993, and diesel at 24.4 cents per gallon; neither has been adjusted for inflation in more than three decades.¹³

Customs Duties

Customs duties are taxes on imported goods, collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry rather than by the IRS.¹⁴ They totaled $77.0 billion in fiscal year 2024.³ That figure rose sharply in fiscal year 2025 after new tariffs took effect on a broad range of imports, making customs duties a larger share of total revenue than in prior years. Rates depend on the classification and country of origin of each product.

Estate and Gift Taxes

The federal government taxes the transfer of wealth at death and, in some cases, during life.¹⁵ Estate and gift taxes brought in $31.6 billion in fiscal year 2024.³ Only very large estates owe the tax. The 2026 basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person, and married couples can effectively shield up to $30,000,000 combined.⁶ During your lifetime, you can give up to $19,000 per recipient per year without triggering any gift tax or using any lifetime exemption.

How Revenue Compares to Federal Spending

Federal revenue does not cover the full cost of government operations. In fiscal year 2025, the government spent $7.01 trillion while collecting $5.23 trillion, producing a deficit of roughly $1.78 trillion.¹⁶ The gap is financed through borrowing, primarily by selling Treasury securities. Interest payments on accumulated federal debt have themselves become one of the largest items in the federal budget, which increases pressure on future revenue collections.

1
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Receipts by Source – Summary, FY 2025
2
USAGov. The Federal Budget Process
3
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Receipts by Source – Summary, FY 2024
4
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Receipts by Source – Summary, FY 2023
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1 – Tax Imposed
6
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
7
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
8
Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
9
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax
10
Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 11 – Tax Imposed
12
Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes
13
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Many States Slightly Increased Their Taxes and Fees on Gasoline in the Past Year
14
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Customs Duty Information
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2001 – Imposition and Rate of Tax
16
U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data. National Deficit