by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine While refunds kept the vital personal income tax from posting an even stronger month, corporate, gasoline and rooms and meals taxes pushed monthly state revenues well ahead of targets for March. Saying the state is in "good shape," Secretary of Administration Kristin Clouser today released monthly and YTD tax revenue collections. They show the General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund receipts were a combined $239.9 million, or 8.9%, above upwardly revised monthly consensus expectations.
Fiscal year-to-date (YTD), General Fund and Education Fund revenues are above target while the Transportation Fund is slightly below target. The cumulative revenues stand at 1.2% above revised consensus expectations through the third quarter of the state’s fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2022.
General Fund revenues collected for the month totaled $162.6 million, or $15.9 million above the monthly consensus cash flow revenue target. Fiscal year to date, General Fund revenues were $1,336.2 million, exceeding their target by $19.8 million or 1.5%.
This month’s performance in the General Fund was supported by a small net gain in the personal income category and larger gains in corporate taxes and meals & room taxes.
Personal income receipts were bolstered by upbeat receipts activity in withholding and estimated tax payments, but surprisingly large refund activity moderated the overall gains in this category again last month.
Consumption taxes, which generally track travel & tourism, were strong, with meals & room (+22%), gasoline (+23.17) and sales & use (2.9%) a combined $5.92 ahead of expectations.
Revenues into the Transportation Fund beat expectations, bringing in $26.7 million in March compared to the consensus cash flow target estimate of $25.1 million. Fiscal year-to-date, the T-Fund brought in $209.6 million which was $1.4 million or 0.7% below the consensus cash flow target.
The better than consensus expectations receipts performance of the T-Fund in March confirms the bounce-back nature of receipts activity given the February “short-month” effect on all T-Fund revenue components.
A good amount of the fuel tax transactions that would typically have been posted prior to February month-end “spilled over” into March. As a result, receipts in March exceeded targets and helped balance out last month’s lag.
The Education Fund revenues were $2.2 million, or 4.5%, above the monthly consensus cash flow target, having collected $50.7 million in March. For the first three quarters of the fiscal year, the Ed Fund received $508.0 million, which is 1.1% higher than the consensus cash flow target.
Monthly receipts into the Ed Fund continued to reflect the underlying strength of household consumption activity - particularly with respect to e-commerce activity - that has bolstered consumption tax payments from e-commerce payers.
The three major state funds are a combined $23.8 million ahead of consensus revenue estimates heading into the crucial April income tax filing deadline.
According to Secretary Clouser: “Combined revenues in March more than made up for the slight dip in February and, despite all the uncertainty in the economy and in world affairs, Vermont enters the final quarter of the fiscal year in good shape from a revenue standpoint.”
