December 2017 General Fund revenue collections up 10 percent from previous year

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced recently that December General Fund revenue increased 10 percent from the previous year. The gain was driven by collections of nonwithholding payments.

On a fiscal year-to-date basis, total revenue collections rose 5.9 percent through the first half of the fiscal year, well ahead of the annual forecast of 3.4 percent growth.

With one less deposit day than December of last year, collections of payroll withholding taxes fell 1.8 percent for the month. Collections of sales and use taxes, reflecting November sales, were flat in December. November represents the beginning of the holiday shopping season and a clearer assessment of the season will be possible after receiving December sales tax payments due in January.

December is a significant month for corporate income tax collections as quarterly estimated payments are due for most corporations. Because of recent federal legislation and administrative action by the IRS, corporations now have a seven-month filing extension for Virginia income tax purposes and corporate extension returns were due in November and December this year as opposed to October and November in prior years. As a result, corporate collections fell 20.3 percent in December.

Finally, collections of wills, suits, deeds, and contracts – mainly recordation tax collections – were $32.4 million in December, compared with $35.1 million in December of last year for a decline of 7.6 percent.