by Jason Schaumburg
Georgia’s decision to delay processing tax year 2020 individual returns helped lead to a net tax collection of nearly $2 billion in February.
Georgia followed the Internal Revenue Service’s guidance of not accepting and processing 2020 returns until Feb. 12. The deferment led to a delay in tax refunds, which resulted in higher than usual individual income tax collections, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said in a news release.
Individual income tax collections totaled about $1.06 billion – an increase of $523.5 million, or 96.7%, compared with February 2020. Individual income tax refunds were lower by $429.4 million, or 77.5%.
Overall, net tax collections for February totaled more than $1.93 billion, representing a 42.9% increase compared with February 2020.
Fiscal-year-to-date net tax collections are nearly $17.04 billion, a 9.5% year-over-year increase. Gross tax collections are $22.62 billion, a 6.5% increase over fiscal year 2020.
Net sales and use tax collection increased by $76.4 million, or 16.3%, compared with February 2020. The adjusted sales tax distribution to local governments was $540.8 million, a 10.6% increase.
Corporate income tax collection fell by 69% compared with February 2020 to $7.7 million.
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Jason Schaumburg is an award-winning, veteran editor who has been a journalist for more than 20 years. He is the Managing Editor of The Center Square.
Photo “Gov Brian Kemp” by Gov. Brian Kemp.
