Press Release  August Revenue Collections Total $2.601 Billion

Boston, MA — (Boston, MA) – Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for August totaled $2.601 billion, $108 million or 4.3% more than the actual collections in August 2021. August 2022 revenue collections were impacted by the elective pass-through entity (PTE) excise. After adjusting for PTE excise [1], August 2022 collections are $124 million or 5.0% above actual collections in August 2021.

FY2023 year-to-date collections totaled approximately $5.007 billion, which is $249 million or 5.2% more than collections in the same period of FY2022. After adjusting for PTE excise [1], FY2023 year-to-date collections are $255 million or 5.4% more than collections in the same period of FY2022.

“August collections increased in most major tax types in comparison to August 2021, including increases in non-withheld income tax, sales and use tax, corporate and business tax and the ‘all other taxes’ category. Withholding decreased relative to August 2021 collections. However, FY2023 year-to-date withholding collections are more than collections in the same period of FY2022”, said Commissioner Snyder. “The sales and use tax increase reflects continued strength in retail sales.

August is one of the smaller months for revenue collections, because neither individual nor business taxpayers make significant estimated payments during the month. Historically, roughly 6.7% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during August. 

Given the brief period covered in the report, August results should not be used as a predictor for the rest of the fiscal year. With the recent enactment of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget, monthly revenue benchmarks are currently under development and will be incorporated into future revenue reports.

Details:

• Income tax collections totaled $1.400 billion, $30 million or 2.1% less than August 2021.
• Withholding tax collections for August totaled $1.315 billion, $33 million or 2.5% less than August 2021.
• Income tax estimated payments for August totaled $55 million, $10 million or 21.7% more than August 2021.
• Income tax returns and bills for August totaled $86 million, $21 million or 31.8% more than August 2021.
• Income tax cash refunds for August totaled $55 million in outflows, $28 million or 99.3% more (unfavorable) than August 2021.
• Sales and use tax collections for August totaled $825 million, $112 million or 15.7% more than August 2021.
• Corporate and business tax collections for August totaled $84 million, $10 million or 13.0% more than August 2021.
• “All other” tax collections for August totaled $292 million, $17 million or 6.3% more than August 2021.

August 2022 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of September 06, 2022

Footnotes

[1]

PTE credits claimed by entity members exceeded excise payments received from pass-through-entities’ in August 2022 and FY2023 year-to-date.

###