Reduced business activity fed by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a more than 40% drop in estimated tax revenues for the state in April.
The Indiana State Budget Agency on May 8 reported general fund revenues for April totaled $1,234 million, which is $964.2 million or 43.9% below its Dec. 20 estimated revenue forecast and $1,040.6 million or 45.7% below revenue in April 2019.
The tax collection drop was expected by the state and economists as people were told to remain home, and daily business activity came to a standstill as government officials implemented strategies to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Weaker-than-usual volume of tax payments due to deferral of income tax payment deadlines from April to July combined with casino closures drove monthly collections below current year estimates.
Year-to-date general fund collections totaled $12,634.4 million, which is $930.6 million or 6.9% below the December revised revenue forecast and $587.7 million or 4.4% below collections through the same period in the prior fiscal year.
The state also expects May and June tax collections to fluctuate.
“The rapidly changing economic outlook will most likely impact monthly collections,” the state said. “Additional uncertainty will persist over the coming months, particularly with individual income tax and corporate taxes, with the alignment of Indiana’s tax filing and payment due date with the federal deferral to July 15.”
Other report highlights:
- Sales tax collections totaled $606.4 million for April, which is $103.3 million or 14.6% below the monthly estimate and $65 million or 9.7% below revenue in April 2019.
- Individual income tax collections totaled $477.1 million for April, which is $668.7 million or 58.4% below the monthly estimate and $755.9 million and 61.3% below revenue in April 2019.
- Corporate tax collections totaled $74.2 million for April, which is $134.9 million or 64.5% below the monthly estimate and $150.7 million or 67% below revenue in April 2019.
- No riverboat wagering taxes were collected in April. In April 2019, the state collected $39.1 million in riverboat gaming taxes and projected it would have collected $36.2 million last month.
- No taxes also were collected from racino wagering in April. The state projected it would have collected $12.8 million in taxes, which would have been an increase from $11.6 million collected in April 2019.
