State Revenues Sluggish In March

A sluggish March state revenue report resulted in lower personal income tax collections and sales and use taxes.

The March report, provided by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, showed net available general revenues of $346.4 million, 2.8% below last year and 4.2% below forecast.

“Results were mainly driven by the combination of rebound in income tax refunds this month and collections below forecast and below year ago levels in the two largest sources of general revenue,” the DF&A report noted.

“Sales and Use tax collections were below forecast by $9.3 million or -5.2 percent and individual income tax was also below forecast by $6.6 million or -2.9 percent,” the report added. “These two sources of revenue account for over 84 percent of gross collections in the annual forecast.”

The March report was a drag on full-year revenues, which hit the 9-month mark in the state’s fiscal year, but the state was still trending higher than one year ago.

Year-to-date net available general revenues totaled $3.5 billion, up 4.7% above year ago levels and 2.5% above forecast.

Year-to-date individual income tax collections were up 6.1% above the previous year’s totals and 3.1% above forecast. Sales and use taxes were up 0.6% above last year at the nine-month mark, but were 1.3% below expectations. Corporate revenues were 1% above the previous year’s total and roughly even with forecast.

You can read the full report here.