Deal: July tax revenues up 1.7 percent

Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that Georgia’s net tax collections for July totaled almost $1.61 billion, for an increase of $26.7 million, or 1.7 percent, compared to July 2015, when net tax collections totaled $1.58 billion. Gross tax revenue receipts totaled $2.16 billion for the month, for an increase of $78.9 million, or 3.8 percent, over last year.

The changes within the following tax categories account for July’s overall net tax revenue increase:

Individual Income Tax:  Individual Income Tax collections for the month totaled approximately $780.7 million, down from nearly $838.6 million in July 2015, for a decrease of $57.9 million, or -6.9 percent.

The following notable components within Individual Income Tax combine for the net decrease:

• Individual Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were up $36.3 million, or 55.9 percent.  Increased fraud detection efforts by the Department of Revenue resulted in a slowdown in refund processing compared to prior years. This slowdown delayed refund payments into Fiscal Year 2017 and pushed refund payments higher in July 2016 compared to July 2015.
• Individual Withholding payments for the month were down $16.7 million, or -2 percent.
• Individual Income Tax Return payments were down $4.6 million, or -37.7 percent.
• All other Individual Tax categories, including Estimated Tax payments, were down a combined $0.3 million.

Sales and Use Tax:  Gross Sales Tax collections increased $9.2 million, or 1 percent, over last year. Net Sales Tax totaled $484 million, for an increase of $11.9 million, or 2.5 percent, compared to July 2015, when net sales tax totaled $472.1 million. The adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $417.2 million, which was an increase of nearly $4.9 million, or 1.2 percent, over last year. Sales Tax refunds decreased by $7.6 million compared to July 2015.

Corporate Income Tax:  Corporate Income Tax collections in July totaled $6.3 million, which was a decrease of $15.8 million, or -71.4 percent, compared to last year when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled nearly $22.2 million.

The following notable components within Corporate Income Tax make up the net decrease: 

• Corporate Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were up $21.3 million, or 229 percent.
• Corporate Income Tax Estimated payments increased almost $5 million, or 19.2 percent.
• All other Corporate Tax components combined for an increase of $0.5 million over last year.

Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor Fuel Tax collections in July totaled $146.1 million, for an increase of nearly $56 million compared to July 2015. 

Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fees: Motor Vehicle Tag and Title Fee collections decreased by $2.9 million, or -9.9 percent, compared to July 2015. Title ad Valorem Tax collections totaled $91.5 million, for an increase of roughly $15.6 million, or 20.6 percent, over the previous year.