Arkansas tax revenue up 7.3% in November, above forecast by 3.4%

Continued growth in income and sales tax revenue has pushed total Arkansas tax revenue up almost 2% in the first five months (July-November) of the fiscal year, with the state reporting $108 million in net available revenue above the budget estimate.

Total tax revenue in the five months was $3.308 billion, up 1.8% compared with the same period in 2024 and 3.5% more than the revenue forecast, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) reported Tuesday (Dec. 2).

Income tax revenue in the first five months of the fiscal year totaled $1.406 billion, up 2.5% compared with the same period in 2024 and 6.4% above the forecast.

Sales tax revenue in the first five months totaled $1.576 billion, up 3.2% compared with the same period in the prior year and 1.9% above the forecast. The corporate income tax was $141.5 million in the first five months of the fiscal year, down $27.6 million compared with the same period in 2024 and $5.3 million below the forecast.

November revenue totaled $662.8 million, up 7.3% compared with November 2024 and 3.4% above the budget forecast. November income tax revenue was $285 million, up 16.3% compared with November 2024 and 8.5% below the budget forecast.

“Collections increased by $40 million, or 16.3% compared to last year, due to an additional payday and more-than-expected return payments which were impacted by the extension of the due date to Dec. 3, 2025,” the DFA noted in the report about income tax revenue in November.

Sales tax revenue in November was $303.4 million, up 2.9% compared with November 2024 and 1.3% below the forecast. Corporate income tax revenue in November was $11.4 million, down $5.8 million compared with November 2024 and $2.6 million above the forecast.

“November 2024 general revenue sales tax collections were impacted by the timing of the Thanksgiving holiday, which resulted in the inclusion of $7.4 million that normally would have been transferred out before month-end,” noted the DFA report. “Consequently, November 2025 sales tax compared to November 2024 understates the underlying year over year growth. Adjusting for this, retail sales tax growth in November 2025 was 2% and total sales tax deposits grew 5.5% rather than 2.9%. Adjusting for all collection factors, sales tax growth was a solid 3.3%.”

Arkansas ended the previous fiscal year (July 2024-June 2025) with tax revenue of $8.359 billion, down 4% compared with the previous fiscal year. Tax revenue in the previous fiscal year also resulted in a $367.9 million surplus. The fiscal year ending in June 2024 posted a $698.4 million surplus, and the fiscal year ending June 2023 had a $1.161 billion tax revenue surplus.

OTHER REVENUE SOURCES
Tobacco
July-November 2025: $75.8 million
July-November 2024: $80.1 million

Insurance
July-November 2025: $65.3 million
July-November 2024: $57.5 million

Alcoholic beverages
July-November 2025: $31.6 million
July-November 2024: $31.8 million

Games of skill
July-November 2025: $24.1 million
July-November 2024: $22.8 million

Severance
July-November 2025: $4.1 million
July-November 2024: $5.1 million