State House

State Tax Receipts Running Half A Billion Over Benchmarks

State tax collectors brought in $3.992 billion of revenue in September, way up from September 2020 and half a billion dollars more than what the Baker administration was expecting to collect.

The Department of Revenue announced Tuesday afternoon that the September haul was $848 million or 27 percent greater than actual collections in September 2020 and $501 million or 14.3 percent greater than the month’s benchmark. September typically brings in about 10 percent of the state’s annual tax revenue, DOR said.

“September collections increased in all major tax types relative to September 2020 collections, including withholding, non-withholding, sales and use tax, corporate and business tax, and ‘all other tax’,” Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said. “The increase in withholding is likely related to improvements in labor market conditions while the increase in non-withholding tax collections is due to an increase in income estimated payments. The sales and use tax increase reflects continued strength in retail sales and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.”

Since fiscal year 2022 began on July 1, DOR has collected $8.751 billion from residents and businesses. The year-to-date total is $1.501 billion or 20.7 percent greater than actual collections during the same time period of fiscal 2021 and $525 million or 6.4 percent above the administration’s year-to-date benchmark.

During fiscal year 2021, Massachusetts state government collected more than $5 billion more from residents, workers and businesses than it was expecting, leading to a sizeable surplus. The $34.137 billion total for fiscal 2021 was $5.047 billion or 17.3 percent above the state’s benchmark and $4.528 billion or 15.3 percent more than the actual amount collected in fiscal year 2020.

By the time fiscal 2022 ends after June 30, 2022, DOR expects that it will have collected $34.401 billion in tax revenue. Revenues for the month of October, which DOR said is “among the lower months for revenue collection,” are due to be announced Nov. 3. DOR has set the monthly collection benchmark at $2.248 billion. – Colin A. Young/SHNS