DF&A Suggests Sales Tax Holiday Contributed To Lower August Revenues

August was a sluggish month for state revenues as individual income tax collections, corporate taxes, and sales taxes all declined, and state finance officials said a sales tax holiday may be partially to blame.

For the month, August net available general revenues totaled $369.1 million, down 1.2% from a year ago and 0.8% below forecast.

“Results were mainly driven by a shortfall in sales and use tax collections, with results falling below forecast and year ago levels. Sales and Use taxes were down in all business and consumer-related categories except automobile sales,” state economist John Shelnutt with the Department of Finance and Administration said. “In addition, some spending for school supplies and clothing in July may have been postponed to take advantage of the sales tax holiday in August. Although, this cannot be determined  since businesses are not required to report all sales of property by category.”

“Individual income tax came in just above forecast. Corporate income tax was also below forecast but in a traditionally low month of collections for that category,” Shelnutt added.

For the month:

• August Individual Income Tax collections totaled $189.7 million, a 1.2% decline from the previous year and 0.4% below forecast.
• August Corporate Income Tax collections totaled $3.7 million, a 31% decrease and nearly 31% below forecast.
• August Sales and Use Tax Collections totaled $178.0 million, a 1.5% decrease from last year 5% below forecast.

Just two months into the state’s fiscal year, year-to-date net available general revenues totaled $773 million, up 3% from year ago levels and 1.6% above forecast.

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