HARRISBURG (TNS) — Pennsylvania ended the 2023-24 fiscal year with $45.5 billion in General Fund collections, Revenue Secretary Pat Browne reported earlier this week. That total is $862.9 million, or 1.9 percent, above estimate. Final 2023-24 collections are within the range (2 percent) the Department of Revenue strives for with its year-to-date revenue forecasts, a press release said.
Below is an overview of June revenue collections and final collections for the fiscal year:
Sales tax receipts totaled $1.2 billion for June, $43.6 million above estimate. Fiscal year-to-date sales tax collections total $14.3 billion, which is $243.3 million, or 1.7 percent, more than anticipated. The overage in sales & use tax (SUT) receipts this month is due to two reasons – May activity was significantly stronger than originally forecast, and there was a larger-than-expected effect from 2024 filing frequency. More SUT is being paid as monthly payments as opposed to quarterly.
Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in June was $1.5 billion, $12.0 million above estimate. This brings fiscal-year total PIT collections to $17.9 billion, which is $134.9 million, or 0.7 percent, below estimate.
June corporation tax revenue of $469.5 million was $54.1 million below estimate. Fiscal year-to-date corporation tax collections total $8.0 billion, which is $180.2 million, or 2.3 percent, above estimate. The shortfall in corporation taxes for June is primarily due to corporate net income tax (CNIT) payments. June is the due date for the 2nd quarterly payment for tax year filers, and these tax year 2024 payments were weaker than expected.
Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $120.7 million, $0.6 million above estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $1.6 billion, which is $156.1 million, or 10.5 percent, above estimate.
Realty transfer tax revenue was $51.9 million for June, $3.0 million above estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $530.8 million, which is $20.2 million, or 3.9 percent, more than anticipated.
Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor, and gaming taxes, totaled $159.3 million for the month, $18.6 million below estimate, and brought the fiscal-year total to $1.6 billion, which is $92.7 million, or 5.6 percent, below estimate.
Non-tax revenue totaled $75.2 million for the month, $50.7 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $1.6 billion, which is $490.8 million, or 43.9 percent, above estimate. As has occurred for much of the fiscal year, Treasury receipts exceeded estimate by $51 million in June.
In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $308.9 million for the month, $37.1 million above estimate. Fiscal year-to-date collections for the fund — which include the commonly known gas and diesel taxes, as well as other license, fine and fee revenues — total $3.2 billion, which is $43.1 million, or 1.4 percent, above estimate.
Meanwhile, the Independent Fiscal Office posted its June edition of the monthly revenue update to its website. The report compares fiscal year 2023-24 revenues to the IFO’s official estimate released in June 2023. For fiscal year 2023-24, actual collections were within 0.6% ($273 million) of the IFO official revenue estimate.
The report also compares collections to the prior year. June 2024 General Fund revenues of $3.63 billion reflect a decrease of $53 million (-1.4%) compared to the same month in the prior year.
