Uh oh: Federal tax receipts plunge to 14-year low

Here’s another cautionary note about Minnesota’s revenue outlook: If it follows the experience of the federal government, and there’s no reason to think it won’t, revenues seem almost certain to plunge even lower than projected in last week’s revised state forecast [previous PIM item]. Marketwatch reports that the feds saw February tax receipts fall to their lowest level in more than a decade:

"Outlays were flat compared with a year earlier at $280.1 billion, while receipts dropped 17 percent to $87.3 billion, the lowest since February 1995. In February, individual income taxes fell 64 percent to just $8.7 billion. That’s the lowest monthly total for individual income taxes since May 1985."