Deal: August tax revenues up 6.8 percent

Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that Georgia’s net tax collections for August totaled $1.69 billion, for an increase of $108 million, or 6.8 percent, compared to August 2015, when net tax collections totaled $1.58 billion. Year-to-date, net tax revenue receipts totaled almost $3.3 billion, for an increase of nearly $134.7 million, or 4.3 percent, compared to last year.

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

Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for the month totaled $870.2 million, an increase of $75.9 million, or 9.5 percent, compared August 2015, when net income tax collections totaled $794.4 million.

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

• Individual Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were up $53.3 million, or 103.8 percent. Individual income tax refunds, previously slowed down by increased fraud detection efforts by the Department of Revenue, are now caught up and no longer delayed.
• Individual Withholding payments for the month were up $122.4 million, or 15.3 percent.
• Non-Resident Income Tax Return payments were up $10.2 million, or 145.8 percent.
• All other Individual Tax categories, including Estimated Tax payments, were down a combined $3.4 million.

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales Tax collections increased $6.6 million, or 0.7 percent, over last year. Net Sales Tax totaled $475.2 million, for an increase of nearly $21.3 million, or 4.7 percent, compared to August 2015, when net sales tax totaled $453.9 million. The adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $409.2 million, which was a decrease of roughly $12.4 million, or -2.9 percent, compared to last year. Sales Tax refunds also decreased by $2.3 million, or -40.6 percent, compared to August 2015.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections in August totaled $20.4 million, for an increase of $0.8 million, or 4.2 percent, compared to last year, when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled $19.6 million.

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

• Corporate Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were down $8.1 million, or -70.9 percent.
• Corporate Income Tax Estimated payments decreased by $7.8 million, or -33.2 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 August totaled $147.2 million, for an increase of $3.2 million, or 2.2 percent, compared to August 2015.

Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fees: Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fee collections increased by $1.4 million, or 4.7 percent, compared to August 2015. Title ad Valorem Tax collections totaled nearly $82.9 million, for an increase of $5 million, or 6.4 percent, compared to last year.