Deposit Fund Accounts in the United States

Deposit Fund Accounts in the Federal Budget Process

Meaning of Deposit Fund Accounts in the congressional and executive budget processes (GAO source): Nonbudgetary accounts established to account for collections that are either (1) held temporarily and later refunded or paid upon administrative or legal determination as to the proper disposition thereof or (2) held by the government, which acts as banker or agent for others, and paid out at the direction of the depositor. Examples include savings accounts for military personnel, state and local income taxes withheld from federal employees’ salaries, and payroll deductions for the purchase of savings bonds by civilian employees of the government. Deposit fund balances are accounted for as liabilities of the federal government. These accounts are not included in the budget totals because the amounts are not owned by the government. Therefore, the budget records transactions between deposit funds and budgetary accounts as transactions with the public. Deposit fund balances may be held in the form of either invested or uninvested balances. However, since the cash in the accounts is used by the Department of the Treasury to satisfy immediate cash requirements of the government, to the extent that they are not invested in federal debt, changes in uninvested deposit fund balances are shown as a means of financing the deficit in the budget.

Guide to U.S. Federal Accounts for Purposes other than Budget Presentation (Budget Process)

• Non-Budget Accounts
• Clearing Accounts
• Deposit Fund Accounts
• Foreign Currency Fund Accounts
• Suspense Accounts
• Transfer Appropriation Accounts

Resources

See Also

• Federal Appropriations
• Entries about the United States Budget Process in the Encyclopedia (including Deposit Fund Accounts)
• Public Debt

Further Reading

• Legislatures and the budget process: the myth of fiscal control

  (J Wehner, 2010)

• Reconcilable Differences?: Congress, the Budget Process, and the Deficit (JB Gilmour, 1990)
• Fiscal institutions and fiscal performance

  (JM Poterba, J von Hagen, 2008)