Pennsylvania Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell reported last week that the state collected $2.5 billion in General Fund revenue in August, which was $209 million, or 8.9 percent, higher than expected.
The Department of Revenue estimates that roughly $187 million of the August revenue collected can be attributed to the deadline extension to Aug. 14 for corporations that had annual corporate net income tax payments due between April and July.
“August revenue collections show us that we’re still seeing the effects of extending tax deadlines to provide relief to Pennsylvania taxpayers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those extensions included moving back the deadline for corporate taxpayers to file their returns and make their annual payments,” Hassell said.
The report’s overview of August revenues showed that sales tax receipts totaled $1 billion for the month, $92.7 million above estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $2.3 billion, which is 4.2 percent higher than expected. Personal income tax revenue for the month totaled $876.1 million, resulting in a 1.4 percent rise above year-to-date estimates, while corporation tax revenue collected in August totaled $303.3 million, bringing the year-to-date total 5.5 percent above estimate.
The best performing tax type, the realty transfer tax revenue, was $56.5 million for August, $14.3 million above estimate. With the month’s addition, the fiscal-year total comes to $74.44 million, 23.8 percent more than anticipated.
Non-tax revenue, totaling $20.6 million for the month, was the only tax type that came in below estimate. The year-to-date total of $34.8 million was 13.7 percent lower than anticipated.
Inheritance tax revenue reported for August totaled $92.1 million, $5.9 million above estimate for the month, and other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and gaming taxes, totaled $169.4 million for the month.
In addition to the General Fund collections, the department reported that the Motor License Fund, which includes gas and diesel taxes, received $265.8 million for the month, $0.9 million below estimate. However, the year-to-date report shows that August’s collection brings the total to $553.2 million, or 1.2 percent above estimate.