ABSTRACT
Government revenues can be massively influenced by policy changes, most notably by changes in tax rates and in other details of tax codes. Moreover, the sensitivity of personal income tax revenues to general economic conditions, as gauged by variables such as gross domestic product (GDP) and personal income, can vary. Income tax revenues were high relative to personal income in the years preceding the financial crisis, in part due to fairly high amounts of capital gains realizations. Federal government revenue figures are released daily and monthly by the Treasury Department. There is no systematic source of ongoing aggregate state and local government revenues. The difficulty of keeping tabs on state and local revenues reflects the huge heterogeneity across the nation in the size and scope of government activity. The Census Bureau surveys government units on their fiscal year revenues and expenses, attempting to collect information on a more uniform basis.
