Chicago, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Financial State of the Union report analyzes the audited financial report of the United States government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020. This report is released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting.
This year’s report found that the U.S. government’s financial condition worsened by nearly $10 trillion in 2020. The United States needs $123 trillion to pay its bills. The majority of this debt can be attributed to $55.1 trillion in Medicare promises and $41.2 trillion in Social Security. These are promises that have been made to our citizens, but the government has not set any money aside to fund them. Other contributing factors include military and civilian retirement benefits, publicly held debt, and other liabilities.
Not surprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic had a negative impact on the fiscal health of the federal government last year. In April 2020, the publicly held debt increased by $1.4 trillion. Just like all the state and local governments, the federal government took on extra costs and had to borrow more money as a result of the pandemic.
In 2020 the U.S. federal government spent $7.4 trillion on health and human services, defense and veterans affairs, Social Security, interest, education, and other expenses. The federal government received $3.6 trillion in revenue made up of individual income tax and withholding taxes, corporate taxes and excise, estate, gift taxes, as well as other revenue.
Ten percent of all revenue collected through taxes went to pay down the interest on the current debt. The U.S. government spends twice as much on interest compared to education.
The Financial State of the Union report awards the U.S. government an F grade and calculates a Taxpayer Burden of $796,000. This means that to pay off the $123 trillion debt at the end of fiscal year 2020 and to have enough money to pay promised benefits, each federal taxpayer would have to pay $796,000. Overall the financial condition of the U.S. government worsened by nearly $10 trillion in 2020.
“The nation’s fiscal health has been deteriorating for years, but now is not the time to stop caring,” says Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting. “Our federal government was not financially prepared for any crisis, much less one as serious as the coronavirus pandemic.”
The Financial State of the Union report is an in-depth study of the audited financial reports of the United States government. Data for this report was derived from the financial report of the U.S. government.
Founded in 2002, Truth in Accounting is dedicated to educating and empowering citizens with understandable, reliable, and transparent government financial information. Sheila Weinberg is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 40 years of experience in the field.