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West Virginia October revenue collections $6.3 million behind estimate

News release from West Virginia Department of Revenue:

 General Fund revenue lagging $87.4 million behind since July

CHARLESTON, W.VA. – The West Virginia Department of Revenue today released General Revenue Fund collection numbers for October of $322.3 million were nearly $6.3 million below estimate.

 

Three months into Fiscal Year 2016, cumulative collections of $1.237 billion were $87.4 million below estimate and just $7.7 million above prior year receipts.

 

October numbers show that Consumer Sales and Use, as well as Corporate Net Income taxes, were hardest hit last month yet there was a surplus in Personal Income Tax and Severance Tax collections.

 

Major collections of interest in October include:

 

  • Personal Income Taxcollections were 15 percent above last year’s receipts due to a 12.4 percent increase in monthly wage and salary withholding tax receipts, a 45.5 percent decrease in monthly refund payments and a net $5.6 million decrease in monthly special revenue fund transfers. The gain in withholding tax is attributable to timing factors rather than significant growth in wage incomes.

 

Cumulative collections were still $29.8 million below the $604.9 million estimate and just 0.7 percent above prior year receipts. Lower energy prices contributed to the significant declines in both nonresident withholding tax collections and other non-withheld tax receipts. During the past couple of months, payroll employment numbers began reversing their long-term trend of decline toward a trend of slight increase. As a result, year-to-date wage and salary withholding tax receipts were up a modest 2.4 percent.

 

  • Severance Taxcollections totaled $9.6 million for the month, an amount that was nearly $0.9 million above estimate and 671 percent above prior year receipts. Cumulative General Revenue Fund Severance tax collections of slightly more than $47.9 million were still $13.5 million below estimate following a slow start at the beginning of the fiscal year. However, collections were 18.8 percent ahead of last year’s receipts.

 

Quarterly coal severance tax distributions were actually up by 1.1 percent from the prior year, but the annual local distribution of natural gas and oil severance tax was down by 35 percent from the prior year due to lower energy prices.

 

The year-to-date General Revenue Fund severance tax collection deficit is largely attributable to lower-than-anticipated natural gas prices.

 

  • Consumer Sales Taxcollections fell 6.1 percent below prior year receipts and $12.9 million below estimate following an 8.5 percent increase in September. The cumulative deficit in General Revenue Fund sales tax collections rose to $35.2 million with more than 62 percent of the shortfall attributable to July collections. Due to an increase in transfers to special revenue funds, cumulative General Revenue Fund sales tax collections were down by 4.5 percent as compared with an overall decline in State sales tax collections of less than 2 percent.

 

  • Corporation Net Income Taxcollections totaled $4.8 million and cumulative collections totaled $32.8 million. October collections were nearly $4.2 million below estimate and 53 percent below prior year receipts. Cumulative receipts were $14.2 million below estimate and more than 42 percent below prior year receipts.

 

  • B&O Taxcollections of $8.6 million were $0.6 million below estimate, but 32.8 percent above prior year receipts. Year-to-date collections of $36.9 million were more than $0.3 million below estimate and 2.9 percent above prior year receipts.

 

  • Tobacco Product Excise Taxcollections totaled $14.5 million in October. Monthly collections were more than $2.7 million below estimate. Cumulative collections of $71.8 million were $5.4 million above estimate and nearly double prior year receipts.

 

For a detailed look at West Virginia’s revenue reports, please visit www.budget.wv.gov/reportsandcharts/revenuereports.

 

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Lalena Price | Communications Director

West Virginia Department of Revenue Office of the Cabinet Secretary

304-558-4544 | [email protected]

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