Arkansas tax revenue rebounds with 4.6% gain in August

Arkansas tax revenue collections began the fiscal year (July 2015-June 2016) with a 0.8% dip, but rebounded in August with a 4.6% gain, which pushed year-to-date gross revenue up almost 2%.

For the first two months of the fiscal year, state tax collections total $944.9 million, up 1.8% and 3% above what was forecast, according to the revenue report posted Wednesday (Sept. 2) by the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration.

John Shelnutt, director of economic analysis and tax research for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, said better than expected gains in sales tax and individual income tax revenue in August helped push the numbers higher. Part of the sales tax gain came from a one-time audit payment of $6 million.

“Sales tax growth excluding the one-time collections was 5.5 percent. Gains excluding one-time effects were significant overall and in a variety of consumption categories. Individual Income tax collections were up 2.9 percent above year ago collections ($11.5 million over forecast), partly attributable to payroll timing effects in the Withholding tax category,” Shelnutt noted in the report. “Among smaller revenue sources, Tobacco was slightly above forecast and moderately above year ago collections. Results in Gaming revenue exceeded forecast and continued to display double-digit growth over year ago revenue.”

Individual income tax collections during August totaled $215.2 million, up 2.9% from August 2014 and 5.6% above the budget forecast. August sales and use tax collections were $204.6 million, up 8.7% compared to August 2014 and 6.6% better than the budget forecast. Without one-time audit revenue, sales and use tax collections would have been up 5.5%. Income taxes and the sales and use tax collections are the two primary sources of state revenue.

Corporate income tax revenue for August was $6.2 million, down $1.7 million compared to August 2014 and 20% below the budget forecast.

For the first two months of the fiscal year, income tax revenue is $416 million, down 1.5% compared to the same period in 2014, and 3% above forecast. Sales and use tax revenue for the first two months of the fiscal year is $397.7 million, up 6.4% compared to the same period in 2014 and 4.4% above forecast.

OTHER TAX REVENUE SOURCES
Alcoholic beverage
July-Aug. 2015: $9.7 million
July-Aug. 2014: $10 million

Games of skill
July-Aug. 2015: $8.7 million
July-Aug. 2014: $6.8 million

Tobacco
July-Aug. 2015: $38.9 million
July-Aug. 2014: $38.5 million

Insurance
July-Aug. 2015: $20.3
July-Aug. 2014: $20.7 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. The year marked 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.