Arkansas year-to-date tax revenue up 1% in October, sales and use tax up 6.5%

The October Arkansas tax revenue report shows a 1% gain in overall collections, but a healthy increase in fiscal year-to-date sales and use tax revenue which is a signal of consumer confidence.

For the first four months of the fiscal year which began in July, state tax collections total $2.012 billion, up 1% compared to the same period in 2014 and 3.4% above what was forecast, according to the revenue report posted Tuesday (Nov. 3) by the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration.

John Shelnutt, director of economic analysis and tax research for the ADFA, noted two one-time items in the October report. The first was a $12.2 million reduction in revenue from large tax refunds, and the second was $18.5 million in individual income tax revenue “largely resulting from returns reconciling extensions from Tax Year 2014 filings.”

Individual income tax revenue during the first four months is $915.2 million, 3% below the same period in 2014 and 3% below forecast. Tax revenue in this category during October was $233.8 million, up 1/6% compared to October 2014 and 8.6% above forecast thanks to the tax reconciliations.

Sales and use tax revenue during the first four months totaled $789.7 million, up 6.5% compared to the same period in 2014. Sales and use tax revenue during October was $193.6 million, up 5.2% over October 2014 and 3.2% above the budget estimate.

“The results reflect continued growth in underlying economic indicators for consumption, and now totals seven consecutive months of elevated growth in collections,” Shelnutt noted in the report.

Corporate income tax revenue for the first four months was $137.1 million, up 3.3% compared to the same period in 2014. October collections of the tax totaled $30.5 million, up $1 million compared to October 2014 and up 6.3% over the forecast.

OTHER TAX REVENUE SOURCES
Alcoholic beverage
July-Oct. 2015: $17.5 million
July-Oct. 2014: $18.1 million

Games of skill
July-Oct. 2015: $17.3 million
July-Oct. 2014: $13.7 million

Tobacco
July-Oct. 2015: $76.4 million
July-Oct. 2014: $77.2 million

Insurance
July-Oct. 2015: $22.7 million
July-Oct. 2014: $23.7 million

COLLECTIONS HISTORY
Tax collections during the recently completed fiscal year 2015 (July 2014-June 2015) totaled $6.47 billion, up 3.5% above the previous fiscal year and up 1.1% compared to budget estimates. It was the fifth consecutive year of revenue increases. The fiscal year ended with a budget surplus of $191.6 million. One-time revenue totaled $65.5 million. The surplus would have been $126.1 million without such revenue.

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 (January 2012-January 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 January 2010-January 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.