Arkansas’ November Tax Collections Up 8%

Arkansas tax collections for the first five months of the fiscal year are up almost 3% with a healthy 8% gain in November gross revenue resulting primarily from “calendar-related shift effects from payroll timing.” However, consumer spending is almost flat based on some of the year-to-date tax collection totals.

Year-to-date gross revenue (July 2014-November 2014) totaled $2.456 billion, up $67.4 million, or 2.8%, over the 2013 period. The year-to-date tally is 0.5% above forecast, according to the report issued Tuesday (Dec. 2) by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

Net general revenues of $2.116 billion were 3.6% above last year’s levels and 1.2% above forecast.

Individual income tax collections for the fiscal year totaled $1.171 billion, up 5% from last year and 1.1% above the budget forecast. Year-to-date sales and use tax collections were $921.8 million, up 0.8% compared to last year and 0.1% below the budget forecast. Income taxes and the sales and use tax collections are the two primary sources of state revenue.

“November results were above forecast in the two largest categories of collections. Individual Income tax collections were up 14.9 percent from year ago results and above forecast by 5.7 percent, reflecting calendar-related shift effects from payroll timing,” John Shelnutt, head of the Department of Finance and Administration’s Economic (DFA) Analysis & Tax Research division, explained in the report.

Corporate income tax collections for the first five reporting months of the fiscal year totaled $131.1 million, down 0.6% compared to last year and 0.8% below forecast.

NOVEMBER NUMBERS
November gross revenue was $464.6 million, up 8% from last year and 2.8% above forecast.

Individual income tax collections during November totaled $227.1 million, up 14.9% compared to November 2013 and above forecast by 5.7%.

November sales and use tax revenue was $180.5 million, up 3% compared to November 2013. The collections were 0.4% above budget forecast. Sales tax collections are a reflection of consumer spending and consumer confidence.

Corporate income tax collections in November totaled $6.4 million, which was below forecast by 15.2%, and off last year’s collections by about $200,000.

OTHER TAX COLLECTIONS
Alcoholic beverage
July 2014 – Nov. 2014: $22.3 million
July 2013 – Nov. 2013: $21.7 million

Games of skill
July 2014 – Nov. 2014: $17.1 million
July 2013 – Nov. 2013: $15.8 million

Tobacco
July 2014 – Nov. 2014: $94.6 million
July 2013 – Nov. 2013: $94.3 million

Insurance
July 2014 – Nov. 2014: $44.2 million
July 2013 – Nov. 2013: $43.5 million

COLLECTIONS HISTORY
Tax collections during fiscal year 2014 (July 2013-June 2014) totaled $6.242 billion, up 0.5% above the previous fiscal year and up just 0.2% compared to budget estimates. The year marked the fourth consecutive year of revenue increases. The fiscal year ended with a budget surplus of $78.7 million.

Tax collections during fiscal year 2013 (November 2012-November 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.

Arkansas tax collections reversed a negative two-year slide in the 2011 fiscal year, with collections up 4.5% in the November 2010-November 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.