Arkansas tax collections for the first half of the fiscal year are 2.6% above the same period last year, but December collections were up just 1.7% because of income tax and sales tax revenue that fell below expectations.
Year-to-date gross revenue (July 2014-December 2014) totaled $2.998 billion, up $76.5 million, or 2.6%, over the 2013 period. Year-to-date collections were up 2.8% for the first five months (July-November) of the fiscal year. The year-to-date tally through December is 0.8% above forecast, according to the report issued Monday (Jan. 5) by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
Individual income tax collections for the first six months of the fiscal year totaled $1.403 billion, up 3.2% from last year and 0.4% above the budget forecast. Year-to-date sales and use tax collections were $1.11 billion, up 0.9% compared to last year and 0.1% below the budget forecast. Income taxes and the sales and use tax collections are the two primary sources of state revenue.
Corporate income tax collections for the first six reporting months of the fiscal year totaled $224.4 million, up 10.2% compared to last year and 9.7% above forecast.
DECEMBER NUMBERS
December gross revenue was $542.2 million, up 1.7% from last year and 2.3% above forecast.
“December results were above forecast from a combination of gains in Corporate Income tax collections and tax refund payments running below expectation in both Corporate and Individual Income tax,” noted John Shelnutt, head of the Department of Finance and Administration’s Economic (DFA) Analysis & Tax Research division.
Individual income tax collections during December totaled $233 million, down 5% compared to December 2013 and below forecast by 2.6%.
December sales and use tax revenue was $188.4 million, up 1% compared to December 2013. The collections were 1.1% below budget forecast. Sales tax collections are a reflection of consumer spending and consumer confidence.
Corporate income tax collections in December totaled $85.4 million, which was above forecast by 32.8%, and off last year’s collections by about $200,000.
OTHER TAX COLLECTIONS
Alcoholic beverage
July 2014 - Dec. 2014: $26.3 million
July 2013 - Dec. 2013: $25.7 million
Games of skill
July 2014 - Dec. 2014: $18.4 million
July 2013 - Dec. 2013: $18.8 million
Tobacco
July 2014 - Dec. 2014: $113.4 million
July 2013 - Dec. 2013: $113.5 million
Insurance
July 2014 - Dec. 2014: $44.8 million
July 2013 - Dec. 2013: $44.1 million
COLLECTIONS HISTORY
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 (December 2012-December 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 December 2010-December 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.