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BOSTON (State House News Service) A third of the way into fiscal 2022, state tax collections are trending about 20 percent ahead of the pace that led to a roughly $5 billion surplus in fiscal year 2021, the Department of Revenue announced Wednesday.
State tax collectors took in $2.445 billion last month -- $356 million or 17 percent more than what was collected in October 2020 and $197 million or 8.7 percent more than what DOR was expecting to collect, Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said. October generally brings in about 6.5 percent of the state's annual tax revenue.
"October 2021 revenue collections increased in all major tax types in comparison to October 2020 collections, including withholding, non-withholding, sales and use tax, corporate and business tax, and 'all other tax'," Snyder said. "The increase in withholding is likely related to improvements in labor market conditions while the increase in non-withholding tax collections is due to an increase in income tax return payments. The sales and use tax increase reflects, in part, 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."
Year-to-date tax collections of $11.197 billion stand $1.858 billion or 19.9 percent above collections through the same period of fiscal 2021 and have surpassed the Baker administration's expectations by $723 million or 6.9 percent, DOR said. During fiscal year 2021, Massachusetts state government collected more than $5 billion more from residents, workers and businesses than it was expecting, leading to a sizeable surplus.
By the time fiscal 2022 ends after June 30, 2022, DOR expects that it will have collected $34.401 billion in tax revenue. Revenues for the month of November, which DOR said "is among the lower months for revenue collection," are due to be announced Dec. 3. DOR has set the monthly collection benchmark at $2.223 billion.
Written by Colin A. Young/SHNS
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