Deal: April tax revenues up 9.1 percent

Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that Georgia’s net tax collections for April totaled $2.26 billion, for an increase of $187.9 million, or 9.1 percent, compared to April 2016. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled $18.06 billion, for an increase of nearly $718.8 million, or 4.1 percent, over last year when net tax revenues totaled $17.34 billion.

House Bill 742, which incorporated various provisions of federal law to change the deadline for Corporate Income Tax filing, increased April tax revenue collections across multiple Corporate Tax categories. As a result, Corporate Income Tax payments had a significant impact on the overall April net tax collection increase.

The changes within the following tax categories account for the net tax revenue increase in April:

Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for the month totaled nearly $1.13 billion, up from roughly $1.08 billion in April 2016, for an increase of $48.8 million, or 4.5 percent.

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

• Income Tax refunds, totaling $567 million during the month, were down $44.7 million, or -7.3 percent.
• Individual Income Tax Withholding payments were up $21.8 million, or 2.5 percent.
• Individual Income Tax Non-Resident Return payments were down $21.2 million, or -30.7 percent.
• All other Individual Tax categories, including Individual Return and Assessment payments, were up a combined $3.5 million.

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales Tax collections deposited during the month totaled $969.7 million, for an increase of $35.1 million, or 3.8 percent, compared to April 2016. Net Sales Tax collections increased by roughly $18.4 million, or 3.6 percent, over last year. The adjusted distribution of sales tax to local governments totaled $426.3 million, for an increase of $7.5 million, or 1.8 percent, compared to April 2016. Sales tax refunds were up $9.2 million, or 265.4 percent.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections were up $123.3 million, or 116.7 percent, compared to last year when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled $105.6 million. This increase is attributed to the change in filing deadline for Corporate Tax returns pursuant to HB 742.

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

• Corporate Tax refunds issued (net of voids) were down nearly $3.3 million, or -21.9 percent.
• Corporate Income Tax Return and Estimated payments were up a combined $107.3 million, or 94.2 percent.
• All other Corporate Tax categories, including S-Corp and Net Worth payments, were up a combined $12.7 million.

Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor Fuel Tax collections in April totaled $147.4 million, for a decrease of $6.2 million, or -4.1 percent, compared to last year.

Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fees: Tag and Title Fee collections decreased by $4.8 million, or -14.7 percent, compared to April 2016. Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections for the month totaled nearly $83.7 million, for a decrease of $7.3 million, or -8 percent, compared to last year.