The State of Georgia’s net tax collections for February totaled over $1.93 billion, for an increase of $581 million, or 42.9 percent, compared to February 2020, when net tax collections totaled $1.35 billion.  Year-to-date, net tax collections totaled nearly $17.04 billion, for an increase of almost $1.48 billion, or 9.5 percent, over last year, while year-to-date gross tax collections totaled $22.62 billion, for an increase of $1.38 billion or 6.5 percent over FY 2020.

February’s net tax collections growth was greatly influenced by the State of Georgia’s concurrence with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance that directed the acceptance and processing of 2020 Individual tax year returns beginning February 12, 2021.  This deferred commencement of tax returns processing led to a corresponding delay in tax refunds, which yielded an extraordinarily favorable net revenue variance within the Individual Income Tax category and in net revenue collections overall.  This highly favorable variance is depicted in the section below detailing notable year-over-year variances within the Individual Income Tax category.  Over the next several months refund processing will be accelerated, which will moderate the disproportionately favorable impact on the financial results reported in February and mitigate the large, short-term impact of the processing delay.

The changes within the following tax categories help to further explain February’s overall net tax revenue increase:
 
Individual Income Tax:  Individual Income Tax collections totaled roughly $1.06 billion, which was an increase of $523.5 million, or 96.7 percent, compared to last year when Income Tax collections totaled $541.5 million.

The following notable components within Individual Income Tax combine for the net increase:

  • Individual Income Tax refunds issued were lower by $429.4 million or -77.5 percent (per guidance above)
  • Individual Withholding payments increased by $86.6 million, or 8.4 percent, over last year
  • All other Individual Tax categories, including Estimated Tax payments, were up a combined $7.5 million
     

Sales and Use Tax:  Gross Sales and Use Tax collections totaled $1.09 billion in February, for an increase of $126.1 million, or 13.1 percent compared to February 2020.  Net Sales and Use Tax increased by $76.4 million, or 16.3 percent, compared to FY 2020.  The adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $540.8 million for an increase of $51.7 million, or 10.6 percent, while Sales Tax Refunds fell by roughly $2.1 million from last year.

Corporate Income Tax:  Corporate Income Tax collections during the month totaled $7.7 million, which was a decrease of roughly $17.2 million, or -69 percent, compared to February 2020.

The following notable components within Corporate Income Tax make up the net decrease:

  • Corporate Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) were up $8.9 million or 86.6 percent
  • Corporate Income Tax Return payments declined by $5.7 million, or -70 percent, from last year
  • All other Corporate Tax types, including Estimated Tax payments, were down a combined $2.6 million  

Motor Fuel Taxes:  Motor Fuel Tax collections decreased by $0.8 million, or -0.5 percent, compared to FY 2020.

Motor Vehicle - Tag & Title Fees:  Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fees increased by $2.6 million, or 7.1 percent, in February, while Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections fell by $3.7 million, or -6.1 percent, compared to last year.

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