Press Release  April Revenue Collections Total $6.941 Billion

Boston, MA — Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for April 2022 totaled $6.941 billion, which is $3.076 billion or 79.6% more than actual collections in April 2021, and $2.057 billion or 42.1% more than benchmark.[1] April 2022 revenue collections were impacted by the recently enacted elective pass-through entity (PTE) excise. After adjusting for PTE excise, April 2022 collections are $2.963 billion or 76.7% above actual collections in April 2021, and $2.059 billion or 43.2% more than benchmark.

FY2022 year-to-date collections totaled approximately $34.487 billion, which is $8.038 billion or 30.4% more than collections in the same period of FY2021, and $4.241 billion or 14.0% more than the year-to-date benchmark. After adjusting for PTE excise, FY2022 year-to-date collections are $6.286 billion or 23.8% more than collections in the same period of FY2021 and $3.573 billion or 12.3% more than the year-to-date benchmark.

“April collections increased in most major tax types in comparison to April 2021 collections and the April 2022 monthly benchmark, including increases in withholding, non-withholding, corporate and business tax, and ‘all other’ tax”. Sales and use tax decreased relative to April 2021 collections but increased relative to the April 2022 benchmark,” said Commissioner Snyder. “The increase in withholding in comparison to April 2021 collections is likely related to labor market conditions, while the increase in non-withholding tax collections is mostly due to an increase in income return payments. The decrease in sales and use tax in comparison to April 2021 collections is partially due to a law requiring the early remittance of certain sales, meals, and room occupancy tax collections, which became effective in April 2021 and generated a one-time increase in sales and use tax collections in that month.”

Historically, April has been the single largest month for collections, ranking first of the 12 months in eight of the last 10 years. There are two main causes for April’s relative strength: first, the individual tax filing season reaches its peak in April. Payments made with returns are concentrated in April, while refunds are spread across February, March, and April. Second, the first income estimated payment installment of the tax year is due in April.

Because of measures enacted this year and last year, historical comparisons between April 2022 results and prior years should be used with caution. Examples of such measures include, but are not limited to:

• The late start to the 2021 filing season.
• The extension of the income tax filing and payment deadline in 2021 from April 15 to May 17.
• The PTE excise.

Given the brief period covered in this report and the impact of measures identified above, April and year-to-date results should not be used as predictors for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Details:

• Income tax collections for April totaled $5.245 billion, $1.593 billion or 43.6% above benchmark, and $3.059 billion or 140.0% more than April 2021. After adjusting for PTE excise, income tax collections for April 2022 are $1.595 billion or 45.1% above benchmark, and $2.946 billion or 134.8% more than April 2021.
• Withholding tax collections for April totaled $1.282 billion, $108 million or 9.2% above benchmark, and $45 million or 3.6% more than April 2021.
• Income tax estimated payments totaled $488 million for April, $257 million or 110.8% more than benchmark, and $7 million or 1.5% more than April 2021.
• Income tax returns and bills totaled $3.960 billion for April, $1.277 billion or 47.6% more than benchmark, and $3.168 billion or 399.6% more than April 2021.
• Income tax cash refunds in April totaled $486 million in outflows, $49 million or 11.2% above benchmark, and $160 million or 49.3% more than April 2021.
• Sales and use tax collections for April totaled $735 million, $101 million or 15.9% above benchmark, but $204 million or 21.8% less than April 2021.
• Meals tax collections, a sub-set of sales and use tax, totaled $94 million, $9 million or 10.7% above benchmark, but $3 million or 3.1% less than April 2021.
• Corporate and business tax collections for the month totaled $690 million, $291 million or 73.0% above benchmark, and $141 million or 25.8% more than April 2021.
• “All other” tax collections for April totaled $271 million, $72 million or 35.8% above benchmark, and $80 million or 41.7% more than April 2021.

April 2022 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of May 4, 2022

Footnotes

[1]

With the enactment of the FY2022 budget, monthly revenue benchmarks were developed for the August 2021 through June 2022 period only. In December 2021, monthly benchmarks from December 2021 through June 2022 were further modified to reflect the impact of the recently enacted pass-through entity excise (PTE excise) and the impact of taxation of non-residents. On January 14, 2022, the Secretary of Administration and Finance announced a revised tax revenue estimate of $35.9 billion for FY2022, an increase of $1.5 billion from the prior estimate of $34.4 billion. This revision is based on recent revenue performance and improved economic data. The revised FY2022 benchmark estimate of $35.9 billion represents July 2021 through December 2021 actual collections, adjusted for PTE excise collections, and forecasted collections for the months of January 2022 through June 2022.

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