January Tax Collections Come Up Short

Those promoting new programs in the state budget that require money got a setback Thursday. State Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton reported that the State took in $390 million in net sales and income taxes, 7.6% below what was expected. The $422 million in the official forecast is part of the annual total used to build the state budget, so continued shortfalls raise concern for additional budget cuts.

The January figures showed that Gross Sales and Use taxes were 3.5% below forecast, Individual Income taxes were 9.9% below forecast, Corporate Income taxes were 10.9% below forecast, and Miscellaneous taxes were 30.0% below forecast.

For Fiscal Year 2018-19 to date, Net General Fund receipts were $2.627 billion, 1.3% below the certified forecast of $2.662 billion.

• Net Sales and Use: 3.0% below forecast
• Net Individual Income: 1.1% below forecast
• Net Corporate Income: 15.9% above forecast
• Net Miscellaneous: 11.3% below forecast

Governor Pete Ricketts said they will continue to closely monitor the February and April reports on receipts as the legislature prepares the new 2 year budget.