Tennessee’s revenues for the month of June exceeded the budget by $372.3 million, putting the year-to-date surplus at $2.8 billion, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Butch Eley announced Thursday.
State taxes for June 2021, which is the eleventh month of the current fiscal year, were $321.1 million more than June 2020.
All eleven months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year saw tax collections that exceeded the budget, with June marking the fourth highest budget surplus.
Consistent monthly revenues exceeding the budgeted estimates puts the state on track for a $3 billion surplus at the end of the fiscal year.
The state’s sales tax and corporate tax collections have continued to exceed expectations and accounted for more than 98 percent of the June surplus.
“June collections in the sales tax and corporate taxes, which are the franchise and excise taxes, continue to reflect extraordinary increases compared to this time last year when economic activity was weakened because of the pandemic,” Eley said.
Contributing to the growth in the state’s main source of revenue – sales and use tax – was heightened inflationary costs, a return of consumer spending, and sustained increases from online and remote retail activity during the month of May, according to Eley.
In addition, the state’s corporate tax collections surpassed the budget by more than $1 billion, or more than 45 percent over the budgeted estimates.
For the month of June, collections for the state’s income, inheritance and estate, gasoline, petroleum, tobacco, motor vehicle registration, mixed drink, gross receipts, alcoholic beverage and coin-operated amusement taxes exceeded budgeted estimates by a combined $12 million.
Meanwhile, the beer, motor vehicle title, privilege, motor vehicle fuel, severance taxes, and TVA payments in lieu of taxes were below the budgeted estimates by a combined $6.5 million.
Eley expects the 2020-2021 fiscal year to finish strong.
“With one month of revenue reporting remaining in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the state will outperform the revenue estimates set for the year and should put the state in a good position to fund the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Nevertheless, we remain steadfast in our commitment to continue to budget conservatively.”
Year-to-date, the General Fund is $2.7 billion or 24 percent more than the budgeted estimate.
The remaining four funds – including the Highway Fund and the City & County Fund – exceed the budgeted estimates for eleven months by a combined $121 million.
The revenue tables for the month of June 2021, as well as the 2020-2021 fiscal year-to-date, can be viewed here.
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Laura Baigert is a senior reporter at The Star News Network, where she covers stories for The Tennessee Star.
Where is my tax relief in light of the perpetual tax revenue overages? Oh, that’s right, taxes are virtually never reduced. The bureaucrats just find creative reasons to spend it all.