IRS income and corporate earnings

When the Treasury released an update for the budget in June one of the notable aspects arising from the figures was that revenue, particularly from businesses, is evaporating. The operating income from large corporations is not a perfect sign of future government collections from companies, but it is, at least, a sign that the tax man may have a bad year.

Part of the difficulty with the Budget is that spending may be close to plans while receipts may not. The Administration made fairly optimistic projections for the strength of GDP growth and the moderating of the rise in unemployment. Now it faces the prospect that corporations are losing money, or that their profits are shrinking, compromising its tax base forecasts.