July 2, 2018

June State Revenue Was $258.7 Million Below Official Estimate

Pennsylvania ended the 2017-18 fiscal year with $34.6 billion in General Fund collections, Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell reported Monday.  
General Fund revenues were $258.7 million less than the official estimate since $200 million was not transferred from the Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association Fund due to a federal court decision..
Sales tax receipts totaled $963.5 million for June, $11.9 million above estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $10.4 billion, which is $40.5 million, or 0.4 percent, more than anticipated.
Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in June was $1.1 billion, $37.3 million below estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $13.4 billion, which is $94.2 million, or 0.7 percent, above estimate.   
June corporation tax revenue of $568.1 million was $49.7 million below estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $4.9 billion, which is $220.3 million, or 4.3 percent, below estimate.
Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $91.8 million, $10.2 million below estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $1 billion, which is $2.3 million, or 0.2 percent, above estimate.
Realty transfer tax revenue was $45.9 million for June, $10.7 million below estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $514.4 million, which is $0.3 million, or 0.1 percent, more than anticipated.
Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and gaming taxes, totaled $179.1 million for the month, $7 million below estimate. That brings the year-to-date total to $1.8 billion, which is $46.9 million, or 2.6 percent, below estimate.
Non-tax revenue totaled $95.7 million for the month, $155.6 million below estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $2.6 billion, which is $7.3 million, or 0.3 percent, below estimate.
In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $247.9 million for the month, $3.6 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 $2.9 billion, which is $52 million, or 1.8 percent, above estimate.
The 2017-18 fiscal year General Fund revenue collections reported above are preliminary, pending a final revenue deposit and year-end adjustments.
Total 2017-18 fiscal year revenue collections, combined with reductions in budgeted expenditures, enabled the Commonwealth to end the fiscal year with a budget surplus.
For the first time in a decade, the Commonwealth is projected to make a $22 million deposit into the Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund.