Deal: December tax revenues up 0.7 percent

Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that Georgia’s net tax collections for December totaled nearly $2.06 billion, for an increase of $15.2 million, or 0.7 percent, compared to December 2015. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled approximately $10.86 billion, for an increase of $414.4 million, or 4.0 percent, over last year when net tax revenues totaled $10.44 billion. 

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

Individual Income Tax:  Individual Income Tax collections for December increased by $0.8 million, or 0.1 percent, compared to last year, when net income tax collections totaled $1.11 billion.

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

• Individual Income Tax Withholding payments were up $5.9 million, or 0.6 percent.
• Income Tax refunds, totaling $34.6 million during the month, were down $12.9 million, or -27.1 percent.
• Individual Estimated Tax Return payments decreased by $22.2 million, or -14.5 percent.
• All other Individual Tax categories, including Individual Return payments, were up a combined $4.2 million.

Sales and Use Tax:  Gross Sales Tax collections for December increased by $43 million, or 5.2 percent, over last year. Net Sales Tax totaled nearly $465.8 million, for an increase of $39.4 million, or 9.2 percent, compared to December 2015, when net sales tax totaled $426.3 million. The adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $401.8 million, which was an increase of $3.0 million, or 0.8 percent, compared to last year. Sales Tax refunds increased by almost $0.6 million, or 10.0 percent, compared to December 2015.

Corporate Income Tax:  Corporate Income Tax collections decreased by $37.3 million, or -18.6 percent, compared to December 2015, when corporate income tax collections totaled $200.8 million.

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

• Corporate Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were down $1.8 million, or -29.8 percent.
• Corporate Income Tax Return payments were down $14.8 million, or -39.1 percent.
• Corporate Estimated Tax Return payments fell by $21.5 million, or -13.4 percent.
• All other Corporate Tax categories, including Corporate S-Corp payments, decreased by $2.8 million.  

Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor Fuel Tax collections in December totaled $143.5 million, for an increase of $9.2 million, or 6.9 percent, compared to December 2015.

Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fees: Tag and Title Fee collections decreased by $1.3 million, or -4.6 percent, compared to December 2015 while Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections increased by $11.8 million, or 17.4 percent over last year.