Peach Tree Times

The State of Georgia reported a decrease in net tax collections for April, totaling $3.96 billion. This figure represents a decline of $225.7 million or 5.4 percent compared to the same period in FY 2023, when net tax collections reached nearly $4.19 billion.

Year-to-date, net tax revenue has totaled $27.45 billion, marking a decrease of $341.3 million or 1.2 percent compared to the same ten-month period in FY 2023. This was a period during which the state's motor fuel excise tax was suspended until January 10, 2023. Excluding changes to the motor fuel tax, collection revenues for the ten months ending April 30 were down by 4.6 percent from fiscal year 2023.

Several tax categories underwent changes that contributed to April's overall net tax revenue decrease:

Individual Income Tax: Collections amounted to approximately $1.97 billion, indicating a decrease of $171.3 million or 8 percent compared to last year when Individual Tax collections totaled almost $2.14 billion.

The following components within Individual Income Tax account for this net decrease:

• Individual Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) increased by $195.3 million or 31.4 percent

• Individual Withholding payments rose by $60.1 million or 4.8 percent over the previous fiscal year

• Individual Income Tax Return payments declined by $142.1 million or 11.5 percent from last year

• All other Individual Tax categories, including Estimated payments, saw a combined increase of $106 million

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales and Use Tax collections totaled nearly $1.58 billion in April, showing a decrease of $6.2 million or 0.4 percent compared to April 2023.

Corporate Income Tax: Collections for the month totaled $748.1 million, marking an increase of approximately $3.7 million or 0.5 percent compared to FY 2023.

The following components within Corporate Income Tax account for this net increase:

• Corporate Income Tax refunds issued (net of voids) were down $18.5 million or 32.9 percent from FY 2023

• Corporate Income Tax Return payments decreased by $17.4 million or 5.7 percent from last fiscal year

• All other Corporate Tax types, including Corporate Estimated payments, saw a combined increase of $2.6 million

Motor Fuel Taxes: Collections for April increased by $3.1 million or 1.6 percent compared to FY 2023.

Motor Vehicle - Tag & Title Fees: These fees increased by $3.2 million or 9.3 percent for the month, while Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections declined by nearly $6.2 million or 7.8 percent from last year.