Income tax collections boost Arkansas revenue

Continued gains in individual income tax collections have outpaced declines in sales and use tax collections to keep Arkansas’ overall tax revenue up 2.1% compared to the same period in 2011.

Figures released Friday (Nov. 2) by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration show that the gross tax collection for the first four months of the state’s fiscal year (July-October) is $1.881 billion, up $39.1 million over the 2011 period.

Year-to-date individual income tax collections total $895.4.4 million, or 5% ahead of the 2011 period.

October tax collections totaled $442.5 million, down 3.3% compared to October 2011, and 2% below forecast. Individual income tax collections for September totaled $218.1 million, down 4.7% compared to October 2011.

“Results were mainly driven by a temporary downswing in Individual Income tax from payroll timing in withholding tax. Sales and Use taxes were down in both business and consumer-related categories, but automobile sales tax rebounded,” John Shelnutt, head of the Department of Finance and Administration’s Economic Analysis & Tax Research division, said in the report. “A significant upswing in corporate income tax refunds also detracted from net revenue during the month.”

October corporate income tax refunds were $13.9 million, down 32.8% compared to October 2011.

“The results are however $10.9 million above forecast and a significant subtraction from net available revenue. Corporate Income tax and corporate refunds are volatile components of the forecast,” Shelnutt explained.

Sales and use tax collections were down 0.6% in October compared to October 2011. The collections, which are a good measure of consumer spending, were 4.6% below forecast.

Year-to-date (July 2012-Oct. 2012) gross receipts collections — primarily sales and use taxes — totaled $705 million, down 0.9% from last year, and 4.4% below forecast.

Year-to-date corporate income taxes totaled $118 million, down 7.1% from the 2011 year-to-date last year, and above forecast by 0.1%.

OTHER TAX COLLECTIONS
Alcoholic beverage
July 2012 – Oct. 2012: $16.6 million
July 2011 – Oct. 2011: $16.3 million

Games of skill
July 2012 – Oct. 2012: $10.9 million
July 2011 – Oct. 2011: $7.7 million

Tobacco
July 2012 – Oct. 2012: $77.7 million
July 2011 – Oct. 2011: $83.2 million

Insurance
July 2012 – Oct. 2012: $21.3 million
July 2011 – Oct. 2011: $21.8 million

COLLECTIONS HISTORY
Fiscal year 2012 marked the second year of year-over-year gains. 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.