Arkansas ends fiscal year with tax revenue surplus just under $700 million

Arkansas tax revenue totaled more than $8.7 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) reporting Tuesday (July 2) an annual revenue surplus of $698.4 million.

Total revenue in the fiscal year (July 2023-June 2024) was $8.708 billion, down 1.6% compared with the previous fiscal year and 0.2% below the forecast.

“The year-over-year decline in net available and gross general revenues is primarily attributed to the expected effects of income tax cuts passed in 2023,” the DFA noted in the report.

Income tax revenue in the fiscal year was $3.849 billion, up 1.7% from the same period in 2023 and down 0.5% compared to the forecast. Sales tax revenue in the fiscal year was $3.48 billion, up 1.8% above the same period in 2023 and 0.7% below the forecast. Corporate income tax revenue in the fiscal year was $744.8 million, down $97.6 million compared with the 2023 period and 1.7% below the forecast.

“The State of Arkansas closed out fiscal year 2024 with close to $700 million in surplus, despite planned revenue reductions from tax cuts passed in 2023. The 2024 surplus will add $290 million to the state’s reserves, bringing overall reserves to almost $3 billion. Moving into fiscal year 2025, we expect revenues to continue to moderate due to the effects of recent tax cuts and unwinding of federal stimulus programs,” Jim Hudson, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, said in a statement.

Arkansas ended the previous fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023) with a $1.161 billion tax revenue surplus driven in large part by a more than 8% growth in sales tax collections. Total tax revenue in the fiscal year was $8.85 billion, up 0.9% compared with the previous fiscal year and 1.7% more than the budget forecast.

The fiscal year surplus of $1.161 billion was the third consecutive year of a surplus of near or more than $1 billion. Total tax revenue in fiscal year 2022 (July 2021-June 2022) was $8.773 billion, up 8% – or $651.2 million – and the budget surplus was $1.628 billion. The surplus in the fiscal year that ended June 2021 was $945.7 million.

OTHER TAX REVENUE
Tobacco
July 2023-June 2024: $193.3 million
July 2022-June 2023: $205.8 million

Insurance
July 2023-June 2024: $208.4 million
July 2022-June 2023: $238.5 million
The year-over-year decline is attributed to the biennial transfer of Insurance Department revenues of $52.3 million to general revenue, according to the DFA.

Alcoholic beverages
July 2023-June 2024: $78 million
July 2022-June 2023: $76.6 million

Games of skill
July 2023-June 2024: $59.1 million
July 2022-June 2023: $54.3million