Ammon News - The U.S. federal government's March budget deficit rose $4 billion or 2% to $164 billion ‌from a year ago as new individual and corporate tax breaks pushed refunds sharply higher, while relief payments to farmers also grew, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

The monthly budget data did not show a major increase in spending on the Iran war, with military and defense program outlays rising just $2 billion or 3% to $65 ​billion during the conflict's first month compared with March 2025.

But Trump administration officials have estimated that the conflict cost $11.3 billion in its ​first six days alone, and U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday the war's "price tag" was $44 ⁠billion, without citing the source of that estimate.

A Treasury official told reporters that many war-related outlays, such as for replacing expended weapons, would come in later ​months.

Customs receipts totaled $22.2 billion in ​March, down from $26.6 billion in February ​and monthly totals in the low $30 ⁠billion range late last year, but up from $8.2 billion in March 2025.

Total U.S. receipts for March were $385 billion, up $17 billion or 5% from March 2025, while outlays totaled $549 billion, up $21 ⁠billion, or ​4% from a year earlier. Both receipts and outlays were March records, the Treasury official ​said.

Reuters