State revenue collections outpacing last year

For the first time this fiscal year, Missouri's general revenue collections are outpacing last year.

State Budget Director Dan Haug announced the state's net general revenue collections so far this fiscal year are 4.7 percent higher than they were at this time last year.

Missouri has collected $5.7 billion from the start of the fiscal year in July through December. Within the same timeframe last year, the state collected $5.44 billion.

Collections in December alone increased 31.9 percent compared to December 2020, from $904.3 million to $1.19 billion.

The state's general revenue comparison to the previous year's data is skewed as a result of changes to tax filing deadlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

By moving the April and June tax filing deadlines to July last year, the state collected revenue in a new fiscal year -- which then bolstered the 2021 fiscal year figures.

As a result, collections in some areas appear to be down as compared to last year, Haug notes in his monthly general revenue report.

Individual income tax collections, for example, appear to be down 4.5 percent for the year. The state collected an inflated $4.01 billion in individual income taxes by this time last year and has collected $3.84 billion so far this fiscal year.

An individual month-to-month comparison of December 2020 and December 2021, however, shows the state collected an additional 2.8 percent in individual income taxes this year.

Sales and use tax collections are up 35 percent so far this fiscal year. The state has raked in $1.6 billion this year in sales and use taxes, which is up from the $1.19 billion it received last year.

Sales and use tax collections increased 108.1 percent when comparing December 2021 to December 2020, the general revenue report states.

However, Haug noted the December 2021 sales and use tax total is higher than it should be because some funds should have been allocated to other funds, which the department is in the process of doing.

Corporate income and franchise tax collections for the month increased 86.9 percent when compared to December of last year. Net collections so far this fiscal year are also up by 9.9 percent, from $366.7 million last year to $402.9 million this year.

All other types of general revenue collections have decreased for the month and fiscal year. From $258 million last year to $256.9 million this year, collections dropped nearly half a percent for the year and 27.2 percent for the month.

Refunds have reached $400.5 million so far this year, which is an increase of 2.9 percent from last year's $389.2 million figure at this time. A month-to-month comparison for December shows an increase of 9.6 percent.