State tax collections up 27 percent over 2020

Massachusetts tax collections in August totaled $2.49 billion.

That’s $529 million or 26.9% more than the actual tax collections in August 2020 — but just $10 million or 0.4% more than predictions for the month.

Year-to-date collections for the 2022 fiscal year totaled approximately $4.745 billion, which is $639 million or 15.6% more than collections in the same period during the 2021 fiscal year, and $10 million or 0.2% more than year-to-date predictions.

“August revenue included increases in all major tax types relative to August 2020 collections, including increases in withholding, regular sales, meals tax, and “all other tax” state Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said Friday.

“The increase in withholding is likely related to improvement in labor market conditions. The increase in regular sales tax reflects continued strength in retail sales, and the increase in meals tax reflects the easing of COVID-19 restriction,” he added.

August is typically one of the smaller months for revenue collections, because neither individual nor business taxpayers make significant estimated payments during the month. Historically, roughly 6.7% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during August.

Given the brief period covered in the report, August and year-to-date results should not be used as a predictor for the rest of the fiscal year, Snyder cautioned.

Among the details of the August report:

• Meals tax collections totaled $122 million, $7 million or 5.7% above benchmark, and $43 million or 55.3% more than August 2020.
• Income tax collections for August were $1.430 billion, $2 million or 0.1% above benchmark, and $286 million or 25.0% more than August 2020.
• Income tax estimated payments totaled $45 million, $4 million or 9.5% more than benchmark, and $45 million more than August 2020.

 

 

 

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2WRvWh9