For Uncle Sam, a rare April deficit

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The government ran up a $21 billion budget shortfall last month, the first April deficit in 26 years, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.

The total deficit for the first seven months of the fiscal year hit $802 billion, compared to a deficit of $153 billion in the same period a year earlier, the government said in the monthly budget report.

"This is historic," said Dan Clifton, head of policy research at Strategas Research Partners. "Our country has never seen something like this."

From October - the beginning of the fiscal year - to April, total revenue declined 19%, Clifton said. That's the largest drop in revenue and almost double the previous record, he said.

Notably, April is usually a good month for Uncle Sam because many taxpayers file their returns and send checks to the Treasury. But this year, tax receipts have fallen sharply because of the recession and the government's response to it.

The downturn is a triple whammy to government revenue: fewer people are working and providing income tax dollars; corporation tax receipts are on the wane; and tax cuts aimed at juicing the economy reduce paycheck withholdings.

"It's a perfect storm of every tax revenue source declining at once," Clifton said.

0:00/0:50Walking the budget tightrope

At the same time, government is spending massive amounts to try to recapitalize the nation's financial system and spur economic growth.

In March, the government added $191.6 billion to the deficit.

Spending: The total outlays for April were $287.1 billion, a decrease from $320.5 billion spent in March.

Spending is up 26% year-over-year, according to Clifton, who said the number is "astronomical. Even a fifth of that increase would have been a big deal."

So far this fiscal year, the government has spent $2.06 trillion and expects to spend $3.94 trillion for the full year ending Sept. 30.

Total receipts for April were $266.2 billion, bringing the total amount that the government has taken in so far this year to $1.3 trillion.

The government collected $14.5 billion in corporate income taxes in April and $136.7 billion in individual income taxes.

So far in this fiscal year, the government has collected $70.7 billion in corporate taxes, down from the $171.1 billion taken in by the same time the previous year.

About $566.4 billion in individual income taxes has been collected, down from $747.6 billion a year ago.

The government expects to take in total receipts of $2.2 trillion.