DOR: Revenue exceeds expectations in April, fiscal YTD

REVENUE EXCEEDED expectations on both a fiscal year-to-date and monthly basis, according to the state Department of Revenue's April report. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
REVENUE EXCEEDED expectations on both a fiscal year-to-date and monthly basis, according to the state Department of Revenue's April report. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

PROVIDENCE – Revenue exceeded expectations for the first 10 months of the fiscal year by 3.4 percent, and by 8.8 percent for April alone, the state Department of Revenue reported Tuesday.
Revenue, at $2.7 billion, was $90.4 million more – or 3.4 percent – ahead of what was expected for fiscal 2015 year to date, the state department said.
Expected general revenue is estimated by the state department’s Office of Revenue Analysis from estimates adopted at a November conference. At that conference, total revenue had been revised upward by $15.8 million.
Personal income tax collections helped drive the overall fiscal year-to-date increase, with a 4.9 percent jump over what was expected, bringing revenue to $1 billion compared with $965.1 million expected.
Acting Director of Revenue David M. Sullivan stated that fiscal 2015 year-to-date adjusted revenue through April “accelerated sharply.” He said the $90.4 million spread is the largest nominal difference between adjusted and expected general revenues recorded in April of any fiscal year since the report began in fiscal 2008.
Looking at the month of April alone, revenue also exceeded expectations by 8.8 percent. Total adjusted revenue was $365.8 million, compared with $336.2 million expected. Personal income tax again drove the increase, as revenue at $194.5 million was 17.1 percent higher than what was expected.
“Generally speaking, when income-based tax revenues such as personal and corporate income taxes outperform that is a sign that the economy is improving,” Sullivan said. “We certainly hope that is the case in Rhode Island.”
The state agency also released its cash collections report, showing that fiscal year to date, cash collections increased 6.4 percent to $2.9 billion compared with the same prior-year period, boosted by personal income tax revenue, which grew 11.1 percent to $1 billion.
“The performance of the personal income tax over the first 10 months of [fiscal year] 2015 relative to the same period in [fiscal year] 2014 is truly remarkable,” Sullivan said.
Comparing April with April 2014, revenue jumped 11.8 percent to $365.8 million compared with $327.1 million during the year-ago period. Personal income tax collections rose nearly 28 percent in April compared with the prior year to $195 million. Departmental receipts posted an 11.3 percent decline to $18 million, while sales and use taxes grew 4.4 percent to $78.3 million.

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