Arkansas tax revenue on positive track

Arkansas tax collections are off to a good start in fiscal year 2014, and follow a fiscal year 2013 during which collections marked the third consecutive year of increases.

Year-to-date gross revenue (July 2013-Aug. 2013) totaled $910.6 million, 2.9% above the same period last year and above forecast by 1.2%, according to the report issued Wednesday (Sept. 4) by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

Individual income taxes for the fiscal year totaled $395.8 million, down 1.5% from last year and 2.1% below the budget forecast.

Year-to-date sales and use tax collections were $380.5 million, up 6.9% above last year and 2.3% above forecast. The corporate income tax collections for the first two months of the year totaled $32.8 million, up 10.7% compared to last year and 8.7% above forecast.

August gross revenue was $443 million, up 4.6% above last year and 1% above forecast. Sales and use tax collections during the month totaled $194.5 million, up 9.3% from last year and 4% above forecast.

“August results were boosted by one-time Sales tax audit payments and better than expected Corporate Income tax collections. Weakness in Individual Income tax partially offset these increases. Additional reporting periods should determine whether this weakness is part of a trend or a temporary payroll timing issue,” John Shelnutt, head of the Department of Finance and Administration’s Economic Analysis & Tax Research division, said in the report. “Among smaller revenue sources, tobacco and gaming results also exceeded forecast.”

Year-to-date and August growth in sales and use tax collections are welcome news. The sales and use tax collections, considered a barometer of consumer confidence, ended fiscal year 2013 on a down note. Collections in the segment for the fiscal year totaled $2.124 billion, up just 1.1% compared to the 2012 period, and 1.4% below forecast.

Shelnutt in early July said the slight gain in fiscal 2013 sales tax collections reflected “limited economic growth in wage income, higher payroll tax withholding at the federal level for social security tax, federal sequester spending cuts in government payrolls, and limited growth in taxable business activity.”

OTHER TAX COLLECTIONS
Alcoholic beverage
July 2013 – Aug. 2013: $9.4 million
July 2012 – Aug. 2012: $8.8 million

Games of skill
July 2013 – Aug. 2013: $6.3 million
July 2012 – Aug. 2012: $3.7 million

Tobacco
July 2013 – Aug. 2013: $38.4 million
July 2012 – Aug. 2012: $39.6 million

Insurance
July 2013 – Aug. 2013: $20.7 million
July 2012 – Aug. 2012: $19.6 million

COLLECTIONS HISTORY
Tax collections during fiscal year 2013 (July 2012-June 2013) totaled $6.214 billion, up 4.9% above the previous fiscal year and up 2.5% compared to budget estimates. One result of the gains was a budget surplus of $299.5 million.

Fiscal year 2013 marked the third consecutive 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.

The biggest declines in the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years were with individual income tax collections and sales and use tax collections.