US federal deficit by month: April is the only month the government comes out ahead

Key takeaways

April is the only month where the US Treasury's average balance since 2015 is a surplus ($85 billion), because annual tax payments land on the April filing deadline. It ran a surplus in 10 of the last 12 Aprils.
February is the deepest deficit month, averaging $247 billion since 2015: refund season pays money out while little revenue comes in.
The exceptions mark the crises. April 2020 flipped to a $738 billion deficit as filing was postponed and pandemic spending surged, and June 2020 hit $864 billion, the largest monthly deficit in this data.

What's happening

The chart pivots the monthly federal deficit into a calendar: each row a year, each column a month, each cell colored by that month's balance. Read down the April column and it is pale in almost every row, the one reliable surplus stripe on the board. Read across 2020 and the whole row burns dark.

The government's surplus months are not random. Of the 26 monthly surpluses since 2015, 25 fall in January, April, June, or September, the four months when quarterly estimated taxes are due. Revenue arrives on the tax calendar; spending goes out every month.

10 of 12

Aprils since 2015 that ran a surplus. The two exceptions are the pandemic years: April 2020 (a $738 billion deficit after the filing deadline moved) and April 2021 ($226 billion).

Why April is different

April 15 is when the previous year's taxes settle up, so the Treasury's single biggest revenue wave arrives in one month. September adds the fiscal year's last estimated-tax installment, which is why it is the second most common surplus month, seven times since 2015. February sits at the other extreme: refunds flow out early in filing season while the next big payment dates are still weeks away.

The size of the April swing is worth pausing on. In 2022 the April surplus reached $308 billion, the largest monthly surplus in this data, and in an average year the month runs about $330 billion better than February.

What the rows show

The calm rows are 2015 through 2019: pale Aprils and Septembers, steady deficit months between, the same rhythm every year. The 2020 row breaks it completely: the filing deadline moved to July, relief spending surged, and the year produced both the only modern April deficit of $738 billion and the record June of $864 billion. The 2021 row is the echo, April still in deficit. By 2022 the stripe returns and the calendar looks like itself again, though the deficit months around it have run deeper since.

What to watch

Whether the April stripe keeps paying for more of the year: April 2026 came in at a $215 billion surplus, close to its recent range. Whether the non-April months keep deepening as interest expense grows, since interest is paid across the calendar rather than on tax dates. And the gap between receipts and outlays month by month, which is what every cell in this chart nets together.

Common questions

Does the US government ever run a surplus?

Monthly, yes: 26 of the roughly 138 months since 2015, almost all in January, April, June, or September, when tax payments are due. Across a full fiscal year it has not run a surplus in this window; fiscal 2025's deficit was $1.78 trillion.

Why does the government make money in April?

Annual tax filings settle in April, so the year's largest revenue wave lands in one month. Since 2015, April has averaged an $85 billion surplus while every other month averages a deficit.

What was the biggest monthly deficit ever?

In this data, June 2020 at $864 billion, at the peak of pandemic relief spending. April 2020, normally the strongest month, ran a $738 billion deficit the same spring.

Which month has the biggest deficit in a normal year?

February, averaging $247 billion since 2015. Tax refunds go out early in filing season while the next estimated-tax payment date is not until April.

Data: US federal budget deficit or surplus by month (Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement, October 2014 to June 2026), from the Kitegraph library. Negative values are surpluses. The chart pivots the series into year rows by month columns from 2015 on; 2026 shows data through June. Monthly figures match the Treasury's official MTS totals; fiscal-year sums match the official $1.78 trillion for 2025.