October Net State Tax Revenues Down 1.6%

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Monday, November 11th, 2019

The State of Georgia’s net tax collections in October totaled $1.98 billion for a decrease of $32.3 million, or -1.6 percent, compared to last year when net tax collections totaled roughly $2.01 billion. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled $7.81 billion for a decrease of $11.2 million, or -0.1 percent, compared to October Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.

Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for October increased by $1.2 million, or 0.1 percent, up from last year when net Individual Tax revenues totaled just over $1.05 billion.

The following components within Individual Income Tax combine for the net increase:

▪    Individual Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) increased by $17 million or 11.1 percent.

▪    Individual Withholding payments declined by $52.6 million, or -5.1 percent, compared to last year.

▪    Individual Income Tax Return payments were up $51.7 million, or 43.7 percent, over last year.

▪    All other Individual Tax categories, including Non-Resident Tax payments, were up a combined $19.1 million.

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales and Use Tax collections increased by nearly $62.2 million, or 6.3 percent, from last year’s total of $994.3 million. Net Sales and Use Tax decreased by $2.2 million, or -0.4 percent, compared to FY 2019 when net Sales Tax revenue totaled $525.1 million. The adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $528.1 million for an increase of roughly $64.8 million, or 14 percent, over the previous fiscal year. Sales Tax refunds fell by roughly $0.4 million, or -7.6 percent, compared to October 2018.

Corporate Income Tax: Net Corporate Income Tax collections increased by $11.3 million, or 18 percent, compared to October 2018 when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled roughly $62.4 million for the month.

The following components within Corporate Income Tax comprise the net increase:

▪    Corporate Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) increased by $13.8 million or 121.6 percent.

▪    Corporate Income Tax Estimated payments were up $15.7 million, or 68.7 percent, over FY 2019.

▪    Corporate Income Tax Return payments increased by $7.8 million, or 20.8 percent, over last year.

▪    All other Corporate Tax payments, including S-Corp payments, combined for an increase of $1.6 million.

Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor Fuel Tax collections during the month increased by nearly $0.7 million, or 0.5 percent, up from a total of $150.2 million in FY 2019.

Motor Vehicle - Tag & Title Fees: Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fee collections increased by $2.3 million, or 7.2 percent, compared to October 2018 when Motor Vehicle fees totaled nearly $32.7 million. Title ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections decreased by $19.1 million, or -25.7 percent, compared to last year’s total of $74.4 million.