U.S. tax revenue is running as much as $70 billion behindestimates more than halfway through the fiscal year, leaving thegovernment with less cash than planned and adding to pressure onCongress to raise the debt ceiling.

Receipts totaled $2.17 trillion in the eight months throughMay, about 3% lower than projections and $29 billion higher than ayear ago, the Congressional Budget Office said in monthlyprojections on Wednesday. The deficit was $432 billion in theperiod, about $26 billion wider than a year earlier.

“Taxpayers may have shifted more income than projected from 2016to later years, expecting legislation to reduce tax rates to beenacted this year,” CBO said. The receipts may also fell short ofexpectations because of weaker-than-projected income growth lastyear, the agency said.

High-income taxpayers may have deferred as much as 20% of theirtaxable income last year, according to the Rockefeller Institute,an allowable move to delay paying taxes on non-wage earnings.

While the government hit its borrowing limit in March, it's beenrelying on special accounting maneuvers to keep spending under thecurrent ceiling of nearly $20 trillion. Increasing the debt limit —a responsibility of Congress — has become increasingly fraught inrecent years as lawmakers used the debate as a bargaining chip forspending controls.

The Treasury Department has projected it will run out of moneyby the second half of the year. On May 24, White House BudgetDirector Mick Mulvaney said that date could be as soon as August,citing the drop in tax revenue, while most independent analystsstill forecast October or November.

The administration is urging Congress to raise the debt ceilingas soon as possible to ensure the full faith and credit of theU.S.

The debate over how to raise the debt ceiling has already led toan internal administration dispute. Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin has urged Congress to back a “clean” increase in the debtceiling, comments that put him at odds with White House chiefeconomic adviser Gary Cohn and Mulvaney. Trump on Tuesday toldRepublican leaders his Treasury chief retains the traditional roleof primary spokesman on the subject.

The message seems to be getting through.

“The Treasury secretary is and should always be the person incharge of debt-limit negotiations, debt-limit legislation,” HouseSpeaker Paul Ryan told reporters Wednesday. “That's the naturalthing.”

The Treasury's monthly budget statement, covering May receiptsand spending, is scheduled to be released on Monday.

Bloomberg News

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