Press Release  December Revenue Collections Total $3.839 Billion

Boston, MA — Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for December totaled $3.839 billion, $398 million or 9.4% less than actual collections in December 2021, but $333 million or 9.5% more than benchmark.[1] December 2022 revenue collections were impacted by the elective pass-through entity (PTE) excise. After adjusting for PTE excise, December 2022 collections are $24 million or 0.7% above actual collections in December 2021, and $16 million or 0.5% more than benchmark.

FY2023 year-to-date collections totaled approximately $17.789 billion, which is $56 million or 0.3% less than collections in the same period of FY2022, but $1.087 billion or 6.5% more than the year-to-date benchmark. After adjusting for PTE excise, FY2023 year-to-date collections are $750 million or 4.4% more than collections in the same period of FY2022 and $613 million or 3.6% more than the year-to-date benchmark.

“December collections decreased in non-withholding income tax, corporate and business tax and ‘all other tax’ in comparison to December 2021,” said Commissioner Snyder. “These decreases were partially offset by increases in withholding income tax and sales and use tax. The decrease in non-withholding is mostly due to the timing of the receipt of PTE excise payments. The elective PTE excise was enacted in September 2021. As a result, many PTEs paid their 2021 excise taxes in December so PTE members could claim a deduction on their 2021 federal return. This year, however, PTEs can make their excise payments more evenly throughout the year while still allowing members to claim a deduction on their 2022 federal return. The decrease in corporate and business tax is due to an increase in refunds and the decrease in ‘all other tax’ is primarily attributable to estate tax, a tax category that tends to fluctuate. The increase in withholding is likely related to labor market conditions and the increase in sales and use tax reflects, in part, continued strength in retail sales.”

December is a significant month for revenues because many corporate and business taxpayers are required to make quarterly estimated payments. In addition, some quarterly personal income tax estimated payments due by January 15th are received in December. Historically, roughly 9.5% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during December.

Details:

• Income tax collections for December totaled $2.221 billion, $331 million or 17.5% above benchmark, but $364 million or 14.1% less than December 2021.
• Withholding tax collections for December totaled $1.585 billion, $14 million or 0.9% below benchmark, but $75 million or 5.0% more than December 2021.
• Income tax estimated payments for December totaled $518 million, $221 million or 74.6% more than benchmark, but $435 million or 45.6% less than December 2021.
• Income tax returns and bills for December totaled $139 million, $7 million or 5.4% more than benchmark, but $14 million or 9.0% less than December 2021.
• Income tax cash refunds for December totaled $20 million in outflows, $116 million or 85.1% below benchmark, and $9 million or 30.8% less than December 2021.
• Sales and use tax collections for December totaled $800 million, $41 million or 5.4% above benchmark, and $29 million or 3.8% more than December 2021.
• Meals tax collections, a sub-set of sales and use tax, for December totaled $114 million, $9 million or 8.7% above benchmark, and $6 million or 5.3% more than December 2021.
• Corporate and business tax collections for December totaled $606 million, $3 million or 0.6% above benchmark, but $37 million or 5.8% less than December 2021.
• “All other tax” collections for December totaled $211 million, $43 million or 16.8% below benchmark, and $25 million or 10.7% less than December 2021.

December 2022 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of January 5 2023

Footnotes

[1]

With the enactment of the FY2023 budget in late July, monthly revenue benchmarks were developed for the September 2022 through June 2023 period only.

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