Deal: March revenues up 9 percent

Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Georgia’s net tax revenues for March totaled $1.43 billion, an increase of $118.5 million, or 9 percent, compared to March 2014. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled $13.85 billion for an increase of $794.8 million, or 6.1 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year, when net tax revenues totaled $13.05 billion through nine months. Year-to-date gross tax collections, before refunds and distributions to local governments, totaled $19.2 billion, which was an increase of $1.08 billion, or 6 percent, compared to the year-to-date total of $18.12 billion in March 2014.
 
The changes within the following tax categories made up the majority of March’s net tax increase:
 
Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for March totaled $543.5 million, up from $477.5 million in March 2014, for an increase of $66 million, or 13.8 percent.
 
The following notable components within Individual Income Tax account for the net increase:
•      Income Tax Withholding payments were up $42.6 million, or 4.6 percent
•      Income Tax refunds, which totaled $511.3 million during the month, were down $15.5 million, or -3 percent 
•      All other Individual Tax categories, including Non-Resident Income Tax, were up $1.7 million 

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales Tax collections deposited during the month totaled $801.2 million, which was an increase of $10 million, or 1.3 percent, compared to March 2014. Furthermore, net Sales Tax revenue decreased nearly $1 million, or -0.2 percent, compared to March 2014, when net Sales Tax totaled $417 million. The adjusted distribution of sales tax to local governments totaled $375 million, which was an increase of $3.6 million, or 1 percent, over last year’s total. Sales Tax refunds increased $7.4 million compared to the previous year.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections for March increased nearly $18.7 million, or 8.7 percent, compared to March 2014, when Corporate Tax revenues totaled $213.9 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 $3.4 million, or -19.5 percent
•      Corporate Estimated Tax Return payments were up $9.4 million, or 10.8 percent
•      All other Corporate Tax categories, including Return and S-Corp, were up a combined $5.9 million  

Motor Fuel Tax:  Motor Fuel Tax collections for March totaled $82.4 million, an increase of nearly $6.5 million, or 8.5 percent, compared to March 2014, when Motor Fuel Tax revenues totaled $75.9 million. This increase is primarily attributable to late payments from a distributor.