Meacham: October Tax Collections Sag
State Treasurer Scott Meacham said today that revenue collections for October fell short in three of four major categories, with only vehicle taxes and licenses up.
Preliminary data shows collections for the General Revenue Fund, which provides money for most state agency functions, were down $30.3 million or 6.4 percent in October from a year ago, Meacham said. October is the first month of the second quarter of the 2008 fiscal year.
Collections were $16.6 million or 3.6 percent below the estimate upon which the state government budget was built.
"Although these figures represent only one month's collections, we certainly need to watch future collections closely," said Meacham. "Often times, there are month-to-month variances in collections due to timing and seasonality factors. We know that is part of the explanation for the decrease in sales tax collections this month."
The combination of individual and corporate income tax returns totaled $185.6 million in October, a drop of $23.7 million or 11.3 percent from a year ago. Most of the decline was from individual income tax collections.
Sales taxes were down 0.3 percent or about $400,000 for October from the previous year. The report said sales taxes would have shown an increase if not for a $4.6 million refund to a company that inadvertently overpaid its taxes the previous month.
The gross production tax on natural gas also showed a $7 million decline in October over last year.
The only major areas of taxes that showed an increase was tax receipts from motor vehicle sales and licenses. Those were up $3.7 million.
Preliminary data shows collections for the General Revenue Fund, which provides money for most state agency functions, were down $30.3 million or 6.4 percent in October from a year ago, Meacham said. October is the first month of the second quarter of the 2008 fiscal year.
Collections were $16.6 million or 3.6 percent below the estimate upon which the state government budget was built.
"Although these figures represent only one month's collections, we certainly need to watch future collections closely," said Meacham. "Often times, there are month-to-month variances in collections due to timing and seasonality factors. We know that is part of the explanation for the decrease in sales tax collections this month."
The combination of individual and corporate income tax returns totaled $185.6 million in October, a drop of $23.7 million or 11.3 percent from a year ago. Most of the decline was from individual income tax collections.
Sales taxes were down 0.3 percent or about $400,000 for October from the previous year. The report said sales taxes would have shown an increase if not for a $4.6 million refund to a company that inadvertently overpaid its taxes the previous month.
The gross production tax on natural gas also showed a $7 million decline in October over last year.
The only major areas of taxes that showed an increase was tax receipts from motor vehicle sales and licenses. Those were up $3.7 million.
Labels: Scott Meacham, State Tax Collections
posted by Mike McCarville @ 2:33 PM
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