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Fiscal year 1998 ended with a total surplus of $70 billion, an on-budget deficit of $29 billion, and an off-budget surplus of $99 billion for Social Security and the Postal Service. Incorporating legislative actions taken by the Congress since July, the current outlook for fiscal year 1999 is for a total budget surplus of $63 billion, an on-budget deficit of $54 billion, and an off-budget surplus of $117 billion.
 

The actual September surplus of $38.2 billion reported by the Treasury Department was $0.7 billion below CBO's estimate, which was based on daily statements for the month, largely because Defense Department outlays were greater than expected.
 

Total budget receipts in fiscal year 1998 exceeded total budget outlays by $70 billion. That figure includes an off-budget surplus of $99 billion (for Social Security and the Postal Service) and an on-budget deficit of $29 billion.
 

Total budget receipts for fiscal year 1998 were $1,721 billion, which was $142 billion, or 9.0 percent, above the level of 1997 receipts. As a share of GDP, total receipts reached 20.5 percent in 1998, compared with 19.8 percent a year ago.
 

Total budget outlays in fiscal year 1998 were $1,651 billion, which was $50 billion, or 3.2 percent, above the level of 1997 outlays. As a percentage of GDP, total outlays were 19.7 percent in 1998, compared with 20.1 percent a year ago.
 

Total receipts for 1998 were $4 billion higher than CBO projected in July. Withheld individual income and employment taxes were $4.5 billion higher than CBO projected, and excise taxes were $2.4 billion higher. Nonwithheld income and employment taxes, however, were $2.5 billion lower than projected, and corporate income taxes were $1.5 billion lower. The $5 billion shortfall in social insurance contributions from CBO's July projection results from an unexpected accounting adjustment by the Treasury to correct past allocations of withheld income and employment taxes between individual income taxes and Social Security taxes.

Total outlays for 1998 were $3 billion lower than CBO projected in July, with the shortfall largely resulting from lower-than-expected spending for Medicare.
 

Total outlays in October 1998 are estimated to exceed total receipts by about $31 billion, resulting in a deficit that is $5 billion smaller than the one recorded for the same month a year ago. CBO's estimates for the monthly total deficit or surplus are usually within $2 billion of the final results reported later in the month by the Department of the Treasury.
 

Legislation enacted since CBO's July projections add an estimated $17 billion to 1999 outlays, reducing the projected total surplus to $63 billion and raising the on-budget deficit to $54 billion. The outlook for the off-budget surplus remains at $117 billion.