Massachusetts tax collections in August totaled $2.49B

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts tax collections in August totaled $2.49 billion.

That’s $529 million or 26.9% more than the actual tax collections in August 2020 — but just $10 million or 0.4% more than predictions for the month.

Year-to-date collections for the 2022 fiscal year totaled approximately $4.745 billion, which is $639 million or 15.6% more than collections in the same period during the 2021 fiscal year, and $10 million or 0.2% more than year-to-date predictions.

“August revenue included increases in all major tax types relative to August 2020 collections, including increases in withholding, regular sales, meals tax, and “all other tax”. state Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said Friday.

“The increase in withholding is likely related to improvement in labor market conditions. The increase in regular sales tax reflects continued strength in retail sales, and the increase in meals tax reflects the easing of COVID-19 restriction,” he added.

August is typically one of the smaller months for revenue collections, because neither individual nor business taxpayers make significant estimated payments during the month. Historically, roughly 6.7% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during August.

Given the brief period covered in the report, August and year-to-date results should not be used as a predictor for the rest of the fiscal year, Snyder cautioned.