July Tax Collections in Some States Are Booming
1. TENNESSEE – State sales tax revenues for July jumped with the largest monthly growth in over three years. The last month in which sales tax collections exceeded this month’s growth rate was April of 2007.
2. OKLAHOMA - State revenue collections for the month of July, the first of the new fiscal year, outperformed both prior year collections and the official estimate, state Treasurer Scott Meacham reported. "Collections in all major areas are above the same month of last year," Meacham said. "As we begin the new fiscal year, the recovery of Oklahoma's economy is obviously under way."
3. KENTUCKY — State General Fund tax revenue grew for the third consecutive month in July and is on pace to reach budgeted expectations in the new fiscal year. For the month, sales tax revenue was up a strong 8.1 percent, corporation tax revenue was up 25.2 percent and income tax revenue was up 3.3 percent, compared to July 2009.
4. GEORGIA -- For the second consecutive month, tax collections -- an indication of economic activity -- improved in July. Officials announced Friday that tax collections were up 4.7 percent in July over July 2009. That's after a 3.8 percent gain in June. It may not seem like much, but the state hasn't registered consecutive months of improved tax collections in more than two years.
5. MASSACHUSETTS -- Massachusetts got $721 million in income taxes, $21 million more than the same month last year, or a 3 percent increase. That was $67 million more than the state expected to collect. Sales tax collections totaled $450 million, up more than 30 percent from July 2009 and $12 million above the state benchmark.
5 Comments:
It might be the economy rising slightly from the abyss. It might be others like myself who decided that 2010 was the time to realize income to pay for large ticket items [in our case, rebuilding a lake home] before the federal tax rates increase in 2011.
Let's hope it is the economy rebounding.
Diminishing returns?:
Productivity weakens in second quarter
Aug 10, 2010
The productivity report showed employers pushed the hours worked by employees up at a 3.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter, more than triple the first-quarter increase. It was the sharpest rise in hours worked in more than four years.
Productivity declined at an annual rate of 0.9 percent after rising at a revised 3.9 percent pace in the first quarter.
"If working people longer and harder is no longer bringing large returns to businesses, executives may have to find other ways to expand production," said economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.
"They might actually have to hire more workers," he said.
The drop in productivity reflected a step-up in the total number of hours worked and a slower pace of economic growth.
Separately, the Commerce Department said June wholesale inventories rose 0.1 percent as sales dropped 0.7 percent.
It was the first drop in productivity, or hourly output per worker, since the fourth quarter of 2008 and suggested corporate profits could start coming under pressure.
I wonder if the boost in sales tax was due to the extra Saturday in July 2010 vs. July 2009. Overall tax revenue for TN in July was up 2.2% vs. 2009. Since nominal GDP rose 4% from 2Q09 to 2Q10, this is not a great sign that July 2010 is booming.
Hmmm, makes me wonder what part if any the states' individual income tax rates might play in this?
The comparison to 2009 is an easy one so we do not need to get very excited. This is particularly true when you realize that many people will take gains this year before the tax rates go up in 2011. Given what the markets are telling us and the sentiment at the Fed I expect that real tax takes are going to be much lower for most states.
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