The State of Georgia’s net tax collections for July 2020, including the recurring monthly tax collections for July and Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 related tax collections delayed by deferral of the April 15 tax filing deadline to July 15, totaled approximately $3.10 billion.
As of June 30, the FY 2020 year-end report of total net collections was not final due to Georgia’s extension of both April and June tax filing deadlines in accordance with the federal government’s deferral of the April 15 deadline to July 15. The state’s concurrence with the federal tax filing deadline shift supports a one-time revenue accrual of FY 2020 related tax filing receipts received in July of FY 2021. The revenue accrual ensures the appropriate identification and recognition of respective year tax revenues to maintain consistency for successive year comparison. Accordingly, net tax revenue collections related to FY 2020 but received in July of the new fiscal year (FY 2021) are identified within the attached financial comparative summaries as tax collection revenue that was “due date shifted” from July into FY 2020.
Therefore, FY 2020 year-to-date net tax collections totaling nearly $22.75 billion as of June 30 were adjusted to include July 15 tax filing deadline net collections of $952.7 million out of the total $3.10 billion collected in July. The newly adjusted net tax collections totaled $23.70 billion for a year-over-year decrease of $92.1 million, or -0.4 percent, from a total of $23.79 billion in FY 2019. The “due date shifted” net tax collections were comprised of Individual Income Tax net collections totaling $703.8 million and Corporate Income Tax net collections totaling almost $248.9 million.
For FY 2021, net tax collections in July totaled nearly $2.15 billion of the total $3.10 billion collected in July for an increase of $311.8 million, or 17 percent, compared to July 2019 (FY 2020) when net tax collections totaled roughly $1.83 billion.
Individual Income Tax: July’s net Individual Income Tax collections, adjusted to remove due date shifted tax revenues related to FY 2020, totaled nearly $1.17 billion for an increase of $196.1 million or 20.2 percent. Individual Income Tax refunds issued – net of voided checks – decreased by $51.9 million or -70.1 percent. Income Tax Withholding payments for July increased by $119.9 million, or 12.3 percent, over last year. All other Individual Tax categories, including Non-Resident Tax payments, were up a combined $24.3 million.
Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales and Use Tax collections totaled $1.13 billion for an increase of nearly $73.3 million, or 6.9 percent, over July FY 2020. Net Sales and Use Tax increased $51.1 million, or 9.6 percent, compared to July of 2019 when net Sales Tax revenue totaled almost $534.9 million. The accrual adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $541.7 million for an increase of $19.2 million, or 3.7 percent, over FY 2020, while Sales Tax refunds increased by $2.9 million, or 89.8 percent, compared to July 2019.
Corporate Income Tax: Net Corporate Income Tax collections for July totaled $77.9 million after FY 2020 related tax deadline payments were adjusted out for an increase of $77.4 million compared to July 2019 when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled just over $0.5 million. Corporate Tax refunds issued – net of voided checks – were down $41.8 million or -81.9 percent. Corporate Income Estimated Tax payments were up $46 million, or 197.7 percent, over FY 2020. Corporate Income Tax Return payments declined by roughly $16 million, or -86.2 percent, from last year. All other Corporate Tax categories, including S-Corp Return payments, were up a combined $5.6 million.
Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor Fuel Tax collections during the month of July totaled nearly $151.2 million for a decrease of $0.7 million, or -0.5 percent, compared to July 2019 (FY 2020).
Motor Vehicle – Tag & Title Fees: Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fee collections rose by $1.2 million, or 3.7 percent, from last year’s total of $32.7 million, while Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections declined by $19 million, or -24.6 percent, from a total of $77.5 million received in July 2019.
