Press Release  July Revenue Collections Total $2.670 Billion

Boston, MA — Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for July totaled $2.670 billion, $264 million or 11.0% more than actual collections in July 2022. July 2023 revenue collections were impacted by the elective pass-through entity (PTE) excise. After adjusting for DOR’s estimate of the net impact of PTE excise^[1], July 2023 collections are $250 million or 10.4% above actual collections in July 2022.

“July revenue included increases relative to July 2022 collections in withholding, non-withheld income tax, sales and use tax, corporate and business tax, and ‘all other’ tax” said Commissioner Snyder. “The increase in sales and use tax was the result of typical periodic fluctuations in collections. The increase in withholding reflects current labor market conditions as well as periodic fluctuations. The increase in ’all other’ tax is due, in part, to estate tax, a category that tends to fluctuate.”

DOR estimates that roughly $150 million of the year-over-year increase reflects a shift in sales and use and withholding collections between months because of timing, without which July 2023 revenue would be about $114 million or 4.7% more than actual collections in July 2022. The reported collections are also not being measured against fiscal year 2024 benchmarks, which will not be established until August.

July is one of the smaller tax collection months because no quarterly estimated payments are due for most individuals and businesses. Historically, roughly 6.7% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during July.

Given the brief period covered in the report, July results should not be used as a predictor for the rest of the fiscal year.

Note: June 2023 and full Fiscal Year 2023 revenue collections will be available once DOR completes the processing of June revenue.

Details: 

• Income tax collections for July totaled $1.494 billion, $179 million or 13.6% more than July 2022.
• Withholding tax collections for July totaled $1.394 billion, $172 million or 14.1% more than July 2022.
• Income tax estimated payments for July totaled $41 million, $13 million or 24.4% less than July 2022.
• Income tax returns and bills for July totaled $85 million, $28 million or 48.5% more than July 2022.
• Income tax cash refunds for July totaled $26 million in outflows, $8 million or 41.9% more than July 2022.
• Sales and use tax collections for July totaled $795 million, $40 million or 5.2% more than July 2022.
• Meals tax, a sub-set of sales and use tax, for July totaled $132 million, $17 million or 14.7% more than July 2022.
• Corporate and business tax collections for July totaled $128 million, $24 million or 23.0% more than July 2022.
• “All other” tax collections for July totaled $253 million, $21 million or 9.2% more than July 2022

July 2023 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of August 3, 2023

Footnotes

[1]

DOR’s estimate of the net impact of PTE excise is based on a limited number of PTE member returns received as of April 2023. This estimate will be revised sometime after October 16, 2023 when returns for extension filers are due.

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