- Massachusetts Department of Revenue
Nicole St. Peter Mac Dermott
(617) 626-2805
stpetermacdn@dor.state.ma.us
(Boston, MA) – Michael J. Heffernan, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, announced today that preliminary revenue collections for October totaled $1.787 billion, bringing the Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17) total to $7.971 billion, which is 1.0% above revised benchmark.
“October collections are in line with the Commonwealth’s recently-adjusted state tax revenue outlook. While income and corporate collections were ahead of benchmark, sales tax came in slightly below the recently-revised benchmark,” said Commissioner Heffernan.
On October 14, 2016, Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore revised the outlook for FY17 sales & use tax revenues downward by $175 million. In October, total sales tax revenues were $536 million, which is $2 million or 0.4% below the revised benchmark. Without that revision, the shortfall would have been larger, approximately $16 million, or 2.8% below the original benchmark.
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October is one of the smaller tax collection months, with no quarterly estimated payments due for individuals.
- Income tax collections for October were $1.003 billion, which is $43 million or 4.5% above the monthly benchmark and $71 million more than October 2015.
- Withholding collections of $960 million for the month are $62 million or 6.9% above benchmark and $129 million more than October 2015. For the fiscal year-to-date, withholding is 1.7% above benchmark.
- Income tax estimated payments totaled $41 million, which are $11 million or 21.2% less than the monthly benchmark and $12 million below October 2015.
- Payments with returns & bills for October totaled $92 million, which are $5 million less than the monthly benchmark and $11 million less than October 2015.
- Income cash refunds in October totaled $90 million in outflows, which are $3 million more than the monthly benchmark and $35 million more than October 2015. Taxpayers who file extensions for the April deadline are required to complete their returns in October, which can result in increased refund activity.
- Sales and use tax collections for October totaled $536 million, which are $2 million or 0.4% below the monthly benchmark. They also represent an increase of $15 million or 2.9% from October 2015. A portion of this increase is attributable to the absence of a sales tax holiday in 2016, which shifted more taxable transactions to September versus the prior year. The resulting revenues are reflected in October.
- Corporate and business tax collections for the month totaled $59 million, up $43 million from last October and $47 million above the monthly benchmark. The year-to-date revenues for corporate and business taxes are expected to trend closer to the benchmark over time.
- Other tax collections for October totaled $189 million, down $6 million versus last October and $9 million below the monthly benchmark.
October 2016 Tax Collection Summary (preliminary as of November 3, 2016)
