State refunds, general revenue increase in February

Missouri’s net general revenue collections for both 2006 fiscal year-to-date and for February were up, by 6.1 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively.

The Office of Administration announced March 3 that collections for the year to date are $4.44 billion, compared to $4.19 billion in fiscal year-to-date collections in 2005.

February revenue collections increased from $351.5 million in February 2005 to $385.7 million last month.

Most collection categories experienced increases for both the year and the month.

Sales and use tax collections were up 2.3 percent for the year, from $1.3 billion to $1.33 billion, and up 5.6 percent for the month.

Individual income tax collections increased from $2.89 billion to $3.13 billion for the year – an 8.4 percent jump – and were up 8.2 percent for the month.

Corporate income and corporate franchise tax collections were up 38.6 percent for the year, from $239.8 million to $332.3 million.

But February collections were down 6.4 percent.

All other collections were down for the year and the month. For fiscal year 2006, collections decreased 2.7 percent, from $276.4 million to $268.9 million. Collections for February were down 2 percent.

Refunds continued to rise, increasing 20.1 percent for the year, from $513.7 million to $616.9 million, and 2.5 percent for the month.

More than $210 million in individual refunds was returned to Missouri taxpayers in February – the largest recorded single month of refunds. Administration officials attribute the record to greater efficiencies resulting from an increase in electronic filing.

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s March 6 free e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.