Press Release  November Revenue Collections Total $2.416 Billion

BOSTON, MA — Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for November 2021 totaled $2.416 billion, which is $289 million or 13.6% more than actual collections in November 2020, and $192 million or 8.7% more than benchmark.¹

FY2022 year-to-date collections totaled approximately $13.612 billion, which is $2.145 billion or 18.7% more than collections in the same period of FY2021, and $914 million or 7.2% more than year-to-date benchmark.

“November 2021 revenue collections increased in most of the major tax types in comparison to November 2020 collections, including withholding, sales and use tax, and ‘all other’ tax,” said Commissioner Snyder. “The increase in withholding is likely related to improvements in labor market conditions. The sales and use tax increase in part reflects continued strength in retail sales and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. The increase in “all other” tax is primarily attributable to estate tax, a category that tends to fluctuate, as well as room occupancy excise.”

In general, November is among the smaller months for revenue collection because neither individual nor business taxpayers make significant estimated payments during the month. Historically, roughly 6.5% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during November.

Given the brief period covered in the report, November and year-to-date results should not be used as predictors for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Details:

• Income tax collections for November were $1.355 billion, $16 million or 1.2% above benchmark, and $81 million or 6.4% more than November 2020.
• Withholding tax collections for November totaled $1.317 billion, $3 million or 0.2% above benchmark, and $62 million or 4.9% more than November 2020.
• Income tax estimated payments totaled $41 million for November, $9 million or 28.1% more than benchmark, and $5 million or 12.7% more than November 2020.
• Income tax returns and bills totaled $62 million for November, $13 million or 27.6% more than benchmark, and $10 million or 20.4% more than November 2020.
• Income tax cash refunds in November totaled $64 million in outflows, $9 million or 16.3% above benchmark, but $4 million or 6.5% less than November 2020.
• Sales and use tax collections for November totaled $772 million, $153 million or 24.7% above benchmark, and $184 million or 31.2% more than November 2020. 
• Meals tax collections, a sub-set of sales and use tax, totaled $133 million, $45 million or 51.2% above benchmark, and $57 million or 74.5% more than November 2020.
• Corporate and business tax collections for the month totaled $49 million, $6 million or 11.0% below benchmark, and $4 million or 7.2% less than November 2020.
• “All other” tax collections for November totaled $240 million, $30 million or 14.1% above benchmark, and $28 million or 13.2% more than November 2020.

November 2021 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of December 3, 2021

¹ With the recent enactment of the FY2022 budget, monthly revenue benchmarks were developed for the August 2021 through June 2022 period only.

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