Deal: January tax revenues up 16.7 percent

Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that Georgia’s net tax collections for January totaled nearly $2.57 billion, for an increase of $368.2 million, or 16.7 percent, compared to last year when net tax collections totaled $2.2 billion. Year-to-date, net tax collections totaled $13.87 billion, for an increase of $812.9 million, or 6.2 percent, over January 2017, when net tax revenues totaled roughly $13.06 billion.

The changes within the following tax categories contributed to the overall net tax revenue increase in January:

Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for the month totaled $1.61 billion, up from approximately $1.27 billion in January 2017, for an increase of almost $342.3 million, or 27 percent.

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

• Individual Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were down $22.7 million, or -50.3 percent.
• Individual Withholding payments were up $98.1 million, or 9.7 percent.
• Individual Estimated Tax payments were up $199.1 million, or 81.2 percent.
• All other Individual Tax categories, including Non-Resident Return payments, were up a combined $22.4 million.

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales and Use Tax collections deposited during the month totaled nearly $1.13 billion, for an increase of roughly $66.7 million, or 6.3 percent, over last year. Net Sales and Use Tax revenue totaled $587.4 million, for an increase of $18.6 million, or 3.3 percent, compared to January 2017, when net sales tax totaled approximately $568.8 million. The adjusted distribution of sales tax to local governments totaled almost $537.9 million, for an increase of nearly $55.3 million, or 11.5 percent, over last year. Finally, sales tax refunds decreased by $7.2 million, or -62.7 percent, compared to last year.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections for January increased by $17.2 million, or 56 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year when net Corporate Tax collections totaled $30.7 million.

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

• Corporate Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were up roughly $15.3 million, or 538.1 percent.
• Corporate Income Tax Return payments were up $19.3 million, or 426.5 percent.
• All other Corporate Tax categories, including Corporate Estimated payments, were up a combined $13.2 million.

Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor Fuel Tax collections during the month totaled $145.9 million, for an increase of approximately $1.4 million, or 0.9 percent, compared to January 2017.

Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fees: Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fee collections for December decreased by $2.1 million, or -5.5 percent, compared to last year. Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections totaled roughly $74.2 million, for a decrease of nearly $3.1 million, or -4.1 percent, compared to January 2017, when TAVT collections totaled $77.3 million.