State tax receipts exceeded expectations in February, due in part to a week-long suspension in paying out income tax refunds, the Shumlin administration said Thursday.
General fund revenue for the month was $71.25 million, 13.05 percent above the revised forecast, Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson said in a news release. Overall receipts for fiscal year 2015 are $868.59 million, or 0.8 percent above projections.
As tax filing season began, the state reported $9.56 million in personal income tax receipts, almost $8 million above projections. Johnson said the temporary moratorium last month on issuing state income tax refunds after a nationwide security breach affected popular tax filing software is likely reflected in the figures.
“We are sure to see higher refunding activity in March,” Johnson said in the release. “March will provide some indication, but April — as the largest single month — is the true indicator of where revenues will end up for this fiscal year.”
Johnson said consumption taxes — sales and use and meals and rooms — were lower than expected. Sales tax receipts missed the forecast by 4.7 percent and rooms and meals receipts were down 1.5 percent.
Transportation fund receipts were $16.2 million for the month, 6.4 percent below forecasts. The fund remains 0.75 percent below target for FY 15.
Educations fund revenue was up 3.6 percent in February and is ahead of its revised projection by 0.22 for the year, the release said.
