Tax revenue for the State of Georgia rose 12.6 percent in February, thanks to increases in revenue from individual income, corporate and sales taxes.
The Georgia Department of Revenue reported this week that the state took in $943.7 million last month. That’s up from $838.1 million in February 2014.
Monthly tax collections included $295.7 million in individual income tax revenue (up 30.1 percent), $8 million in corporate tax revenue (up 26.8 percent) and $409.3 million in sales tax revenue (up 4.2 percent).
For fiscal 2016, Georgia’s tax revenue is up 5.8 percent to $12.4 billion.
Governor Nathan Deal’s office provided Now Habersham the following report:
Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Georgia’s net tax collections for February totaled $943.7 million, an increase of $105.6 million, or 12.6 percent, compared to February 2014. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled $12.41 billion for an increase of nearly $676.4 million, or 5.8 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year, when net tax revenues totaled $11.74 billion through eight months. Year-to-date gross tax collections, before refunds and distributions to local governments, totaled $16.85 billion, which was an increase of $969.8 million, or 6.1 percent, compared to the year-to-date total of $15.88 billion in February 2014.
The changes within the following tax categories made up the majority of February’s net tax increase:
Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for February totaled $295.7 million, up from $227.3 million in February 2014, for an increase of $68.4 million, or 30.1 percent.
The following notable components within Individual Income Tax account for the net increase:
- Income Tax Withholding payments were up $72 million, or 9 percent
- Income Tax refunds, which totaled $620.7 million during the month, were up $6 million, or 1 percent
- All other Individual Tax categories, including Estimated Income Tax payments, were up $2.4 million
Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales Tax collections deposited during the month totaled $792.3 million, which was an increase of nearly $42.7 million, or 5.7 percent, compared to February 2014. Furthermore, net Sales Tax revenue increased by almost $16.4 million, or 4.2 percent, compared to FY 2014, when net Sales Tax approached $392.9 million. The adjusted distribution of sales tax to local governments totaled $372.5 million, which was a 4.9 percent increase over last year’s total. Sales Tax refunds increased $8.9 million compared to the previous year.
Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections for February increased approximately $1.7 million, or 26.8 percent, compared to February 2014, when Corporate Tax revenues totaled $6.3 million.
The following notable components within Corporate Income Tax combine to make up the net increase:
• Corporate Tax refunds issued, net of voided checks, were down $2.2 million, or -10.7 percent
- Corporate Income Tax Return payments were up roughly $1.6 million, or 35.3 percent
- All other Corporate Tax categories, including Estimated Return payments, decreased $2.1 million
