WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. budget deficit

for February was nearly flat with a year earlier at $308 billion

as growth in receipts and outlays were largely even, with

receipts from President Donald Trump's tariffs not yet

reflecting the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling against many of his

duties last month.

February receipts came in at $313 billion, up $17 billion or

6% from a year earlier, while outlays for the month totaled $621

billion, up $17 billion or 3% from February 2025. The

year-on-year monthly comparison reflected the first full month

in the Trump administration.

Receipt growth was driven in part by a $15 billion increase

in individual withheld income taxes in February, partly

reflecting the payment of 2025 year-end bonuses, a Treasury

official said. This was offset by a $7 billion increase in

corporate tax refunds and a $6 billion increase in individual

tax refunds driven by last year's Republican-passed tax cut

legislation.

The report showed a slight cooling of net customs duties in

February to $26.6 billion, compared with $27.7 billion in

January and over $30 billion in the final months of last year.

But the Treasury official said the budget data largely does

not reflect tariff reductions due to the Supreme Court's

decision to strike down duties under the International Emergency

Economic Powers Act as illegal, as tariffs are generally paid a

month in arrears. The Customs and Border Protection agency

stopped assessing those tariffs on imports starting on February

24.

The official said it was unclear how any IEEPA tariff

refunds would show up in the data.