Press Release  May Revenue Collections Total $2.478 Billion

Boston, MA — Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for May 2022 totaled $2.478 billion, which is $1.524 billion or 38.1% less than actual collections in May 2021, but $138 million or 5.9% more than benchmark.[1]

May 2022 revenue collections were impacted by the recently enacted elective pass-through entity (PTE) excise. After adjusting for PTE excise, May 2022 collections are $1.483 billion or 37.1% below actual collections in May 2021, but $186 million or 8.0% more than benchmark.

FY2022 year-to-date collections totaled approximately $36.969 billion, which is $6.519 billion or 21.4% more than collections in the same period of FY2021, and $2.666 billion or 7.8% more than the year-to-date benchmark. After adjusting for PTE excise, FY2022 year-to-date collections are $4.726 billion or 15.5% more than collections in the same period of FY2021 and $1.965 billion or 5.9% more than the year-to-date benchmark.

“The decrease in May 2022 revenue in comparison to May 2021 is primarily due to an expected decline in income tax return payments, which is largely attributable to the extension of last year’s income tax filing and payment deadline from April 15, 2021 to May 17, 2021,” said Commissioner Snyder. “The decrease in income tax return payments was partially offset by increases in other major tax categories including withholding, sales and use tax, and ‘all other’ tax.”

Historically, May is a mid-size month for collections, ranking seventh of 12 months in seven of the last 10 years. Net revenue collections in May are influenced by the individual tax filing season, which generates both inflows and refund outflows during the month. Estimated payments from individuals and businesses are not significant in May.
However, because of measures enacted this year and last year, historical comparisons between May 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 from April 15th, 2021 to May 17th, 2021.
•  The recently enacted elective pass-through entity excise.

Details:

• Income tax collections for May totaled $1.360 billion, $38 million or 2.7% below benchmark, and $1.661 billion or 55.0% less than May 2021. After adjusting for PTE excise, income tax collections for May 2022 are $10 million or 0.7% above benchmark, but $1.621 billion or 53.7% less than May 2021. The decrease in income tax collections in comparison to May 2021 is primarily the result of the extension of last year’s income tax filing and payment deadline mentioned previously.
• Withholding tax collections for May totaled $1.289 billion, $27 million or 2.1% above benchmark, and $122 million or 10.5% more than May 2021.
• Income tax estimated payments for May totaled $35 million, $9 million or 20.0% less than benchmark, and $23 million or 39.1% less than May 2021.
• Income tax returns and bills for May totaled $189 million, $5 million or 2.6% less than benchmark, and $1.953 billion or 91.2% less than May 2021.
• Income tax cash refunds for May totaled $154 million in outflows, $51 million or 48.8% above benchmark, but $191 million or 55.4% less than May 2021.
• Sales and use tax collections for May totaled $785 million, $165 million or 26.5% above benchmark, and $95 million or 13.8% more than May 2021.
• Meals tax collections, a sub-set of sales and use tax, totaled $121 million, $35 million or 40.0% above benchmark, and $35 million or 40.6% more than May 2021.
• Corporate and business tax collections for May totaled $70 million, $36 million or 34.4% below benchmark, and $2 million or 3.1% less than May 2021.
• “All other” tax collections for May totaled $263 million, $48 million or 22.1% above benchmark, and $45 million or 20.5% more than May 2021.

May 2022 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of June 3, 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 represented July 2021 through December 2021 actual collections, adjusted for PTE excise collections, and the then forecasted collections for the months of January 2022 through June 2022. On May 18, 2022, the Secretary of Administration and Finance announced a revised FY2022 tax revenue estimate of $37.7 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion from the prior estimate of $35.9 billion. The full fiscal year benchmark has been adjusted to reflect the revised forecast. However, the benchmarks for May 2022 and June 2022 have not changed.

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