Year over year comparisons for April were affected by two factors that are not expected to affect subsequent months' revenues:
~ April 2013 net revenues were boosted by a spike of more than $170 million over the prior April in individual income tax payments for returns, estimated payments, and assessments compared to April 2012. This spike was related to taxpayers accelerating capital gains and other income into tax year 2012 to avoid anticipated higher federal income tax rates in 2013. This shifted tax liability for Georgia's FY 2014 and later years to FY 2013. As a result of that one-time shift in tax liability, this year's April payments dropped by $102 million compared to last year, but still reflected strong growth when compared to April revenue collections prior to 2013. The impact of the one-time tax shift was anticipated in the governor's conservative revenue estimate for the Amended FY 2014 budget, and year-to-date revenue growth continues to exceed the level built into that estimate.
~ April 2013 net revenues were boosted by about $40 million by the voiding of accumulated refund checks whose validity had expired. This reduced the net individual and corporate income tax refunds paid in April 2013.
Changes within the following major tax categories explain the net tax revenue increase in April:
Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for April 2014 totaled nearly $867.75 million, down from a total of $1.015 billion in April 2013, for a decrease of $(147.25) million or -14.5 percent compared to FY 2013.
The following notable components within Individual Income Tax combine for the net decrease:
Governor Deal
http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/5/274665