Arkansas Tax Revenue Up 3.3% Year-to-date

Despite “weak” retail sales the gross year-to-date tax collections in Arkansas total $1.842 billion, up 3.3% compared to the 2010 period, according to an Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration report released Wednesday (Nov. 2).

The year-to-date gross revenue for the first four months of Arkansas’ 2012 fiscal year (July-October) is 1.1% above the forecast.

The year-to-date gross receipts collections — a gauge of consumer spending — total $719.8 million, down 0.5% compared to 2010 and down 3.4% below the revenue forecast.

“The sales tax results reflect a combination of generally weak retail sales across the year-to-date period and adverse one-time comparisons in business transactions in the first two months of the fiscal year,” John Shelnutt, director of economic analysis and tax research with the DFA, noted in the revenue report.

Shelnutt also said a “large increase” in corporate tax refunds partially offset increases in individual and corporate income tax collections. He also noted that lower than expected individual income tax refunds “contributed positively to the net revenue results.”

For the year, individual income tax collections total $853.1 million, up 6.6% compared to the 2010 period. The year-to-date corporate income tax collections total $127 million, up 5.7% compared to the 2010 period.

Revenue from games of skill during the first four months of the fiscal year totaled $7.7 million, well above the $3.6 million compared to the 2010 period.

OCTOBER COLLECTIONS
Gross revenue in the October report (which records consumer and business transactions during September) was $457.5 million, up 5.4% compared to the 2010 period and 1.8% above the forecast.

Gross receipts collections for the October report totaled $174.5 million, down 0.4% compared to 2010 and 3.6% below the forecast.

Individual income tax collections during October were $228.8 million, up 10.9% compared to 2010. Corporate income tax collections during October were $24.8 million, up 7.2% below 2010.

COLLECTIONS HISTORY
Arkansas tax collections reversed a negative two-year slide in the 2011 fiscal year, with collections up 4.5% in the July 2010-June 2011 period.

State tax collections for fiscal year 2011 totaled $5.673 billion, up 4.5% above the $5.43 billion in the 2010 period. Total state revenue of $5.43 billion in fiscal year 2010 was 2.4% below the previous fiscal year and marked the second consecutive year of revenue decline. The biggest declines in the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years were with individual income tax collections and sales and use tax collections.

Michael Tilley with our content partner, The City Wire, is the author of this report. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].