Deal: February revenues up 12.6 percent

Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Georgia’s net tax collections for February totaled $943.7 million, an increase of $105.6 million, or 12.6 percent, compared to February 2014. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled $12.41 billion for an increase of nearly $676.4 million, or 5.8 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year, when net tax revenues totaled $11.74 billion through eight months. Year-to-date gross tax collections, before refunds and distributions to local governments, totaled $16.85 billion, which was an increase of $969.8 million, or 6.1 percent, compared to the year-to-date total of $15.88 billion in February 2014.
 
The changes within the following tax categories made up the majority of February’s net tax increase:
 
Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for February totaled $295.7 million, up from $227.3 million in February 2014, for an increase of $68.4 million, or 30.1 percent.
 
The following notable components within Individual Income Tax account for the net increase:
•      Income Tax Withholding payments were up $72 million, or 9 percent
•      Income Tax refunds, which totaled $620.7 million during the month, were up $6 million, or 1 percent 
•      All other Individual Tax categories, including Estimated Income Tax payments, were up $2.4 million
 

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales Tax collections deposited during the month totaled $792.3 million, which was an increase of nearly $42.7 million, or 5.7 percent, compared to February 2014. Furthermore, net Sales Tax revenue increased by almost $16.4 million, or 4.2 percent, compared to FY 2014, when net Sales Tax approached $392.9 million. The adjusted distribution of sales tax to local governments totaled $372.5 million, which was a 4.9 percent increase over last year’s total. Sales Tax refunds increased $8.9 million compared to the previous year.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections for February increased approximately $1.7 million, or 26.8 percent, compared to February 2014, when Corporate Tax revenues totaled $6.3 million.

The following notable components within Corporate Income Tax combine to make up the net increase:
•      Corporate Tax refunds issued, net of voided checks, were down $2.2 million, or -10.7 percent
•      Corporate Income Tax Return payments were up roughly $1.6 million, or 35.3 percent 
•      All other Corporate Tax categories, including Estimated Return payments, decreased $2.1 million