Different filing deadlines prompt spike in state tax revenues

Georgia tax collections soared 45.5% last month compared to March of last year, an anomaly the state Department of Revenue attributed to different tax filing deadlines this year compared to fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020. The state brought in $2.76 billion in tax revenue in March, up $862.9 million over March of 2021.

Individual income tax collections rose 70.6%, driven in part by a 54.7% decline in refunds issued by the revenue agency. Net sales tax receipts also were up by a more modest 19.4%. Corporate income tax collections increased 53.1%, as refunds plummeted 67.2%.

Motor fuels taxes rose by $12.6 million last month over March of last year, an 8.8% increase, despite the temporary suspension of the tax to curb rising prices at the pump.

State tax receipts for the first nine months of fiscal 2022 were up 18.9% over the same period last year.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.