- Massachusetts Department of Revenue
Monday, May 4, 2009
Robert R. Bliss
blissr@dor.state.ma.us
617-626-2369
Monthly collection is nearly $1 billion less than one year ago; steep capital gains decline pushes revenues $456 million below benchmark
Revenue Commissioner Navjeet K. Bal today announced that preliminary revenue collections for April 2009 totaled $1.781 billion, down $953 million or 34.9 percent from last April.
Total tax collections were $456 million below the benchmark corresponding to the April 15 revised FY09 revenue estimate of $19.333 billion. The decline was due largely to income tax collections, which fell $905 million or 40.7 percent from April 2008, $420 million below benchmark.
FY09 year-to-date tax collections total $15.187 billion, down $1.936 billion from a year ago. Taxpayers received $382 million in refunds in April, up $77 million or 25.3 percent from a year ago, $64 million higher than in the monthly benchmark.
"The April shortfall is almost certainly the result of a decline in capital gains taxes, with a drop in interest and dividend income also likely playing a role," Bal said.
April 2009 withholding taxes totaled $665 million, down $20 million or 3.0 percent from a year ago, $28 million below the benchmark. Income tax payments with returns and bills totaled $864 million, down $681 million or 44.1 percent from a year ago and $292 million below the benchmark. Income tax estimated payments were $169 million, down $125 million or 42.4 percent from a year ago and $35 million below benchmark.
April is not a big month for corporate/business tax collections, which totaled $27 million for the month, down $22 million or 44.9 percent from a year ago and $18 million below the monthly benchmark.
Sales and use tax collections of $309 million in April 2009 were down $28 million or 8.2 percent from a year ago and were $17 million below the monthly benchmark. The only subset of sales tax collection holding its own is the meals tax which is unchanged from a year ago and just $1 million below benchmark for the month.
On a fiscal 2009 year-to-date basis, sales and use tax collections are $184 million or 5.4 percent below the same period a year ago, $17 million below the benchmark. Corporate/business taxes year-to-date are $335 million or 16.8 percent below the same period a year ago, $18 million below the benchmark. Income tax collection year-to-date is $8.884 billion or 13.6 percent below the same period a year ago and $420 million below the benchmark.
FY2009 Year-to-Date Tax Revenue through April 30, 2009
April 2009 Tax Collection Summary (preliminary as of May 4, 2009)
