State Ends Fiscal Year With Revenues $3.2 Billion Below Estimates

On July 1, the Department of Revenue reported Pennsylvania ended the 2019-20 fiscal year with revenues $3.2 billion, or 9.1 percent, below estimates.  FY 2019-20 revenues totaled $32.3 billion.

General Fund collections for June totaled $2.7 billion, which was $577.4 million, or 17.8 percent, less than anticipated. 

The department estimates that approximately $133 million of the $577.4 million shortfall in June can be attributed to moving due dates for various taxes. It is estimated that the remaining $444.4 million of the June shortfall is due to reduced economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As expected, June was a month where the pandemic had a significant impact on the commonwealth’s revenue collections,” said Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell. “We are also seeing the effects of extending tax filing deadlines to provide taxpayers with relief and more time to file. That includes the deadline for filing personal income tax returns, which is now July 15.”

The Independent Fiscal Office put out its own report saying $1.36 billion in lost revenue was from reduced economic activity and $1.91 billion due to shifts to FY 2020-21 as a result of extended tax due dates.  Read more here.

Below is a full overview of June revenues by tax type by the Department of Revenue--

Sales tax receipts totaled $974.2 million for June, $60.5 million below estimate. Fiscal year-to-date sales tax collections total $10.8 billion, which is $636.6 million, or 5.6 percent, less than anticipated.

Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in June was $1 billion, $241.8 million below estimate. This brings the fiscal-year total PIT collections to $12.8 billion, which is $1.7 billion, or 11.9 percent, below estimate.

June corporation tax revenue of $398.7 million was $208.5 million below estimate. Fiscal year-to-date corporation tax collections total $4.8 billion, which is $769.4 million, or 13.7 percent, below estimate.

Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $80.1 million, $21.8 million below estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $1.1 billion, which is $18.1 million, or 1.6 percent, below estimate.

Realty transfer tax revenue was $33.1 million for June, $26.5 million below estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $497.8 million, which is $58 million, or 10.4 percent, less than anticipated.

Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and gaming taxes, totaled $136.8 million for the month, $41.3 million below estimate and bringing the fiscal-year total to $1.5 billion, which is $96.6 million, or 5.9 percent, below estimate.

Non-tax revenue totaled $35.5 million for the month, $23 million above estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $664.9 million, which is $92.7 million, or 16.2 percent, above estimate.

In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $246.9 million for the month, $6.2 million below estimate. Fiscal year-to-date collections for the fund — which include the commonly known gas and diesel taxes, as well as other license, fine and fee revenues — total $2.7 billion, which is $186.4 million, or 6.5 percent, below estimate.

NewsClip:

AP: Pennsylvania Finishes Year $3 Billion Behind Because Of Pandemic

[Posted: July 1, 2020]