The State of Georgia’s net tax collections for January totaled $2.25 billion, for a decrease of $314.1 million, or -12.2 percent, compared to January 2018, when net tax collections totaled roughly $2.57 billion. Year-to-date, net tax collections totaled $14.07 billion, for an increase of $202.8 million, or 1.5 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year, when net tax revenues totaled $13.87 billion.

The current month’s decrease in revenue is primarily due to a comparison with the unparalleled January 2018 increase of estimated income tax payments, which were filed as a potential federal tax benefit to individual income taxpayers due to the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Individual income tax collections in January 2018 had increased 27 percent over January 2017, and corporate income tax collections had increased 56 percent in January 2018 over January 2017. In comparison to January 2017, individual income tax collections in January 2019 increased by 2.5 percent, and corporate income tax collections in 2019 increased by 27 percent.

The changes within the following tax categories help to further explain January’s overall net tax revenue decrease:

Individual Income Tax: Individual income tax collections totaled nearly $1.3 billion, which was a decrease of $310.9 million, or -19.3 percent, compared to last year when income tax collections totaled roughly $1.61 billion.

The following notable components within individual income tax combine for the net decrease:

• Individual income tax refunds issued - net of voided checks - were up $31.8 million, or 141.3 percent.

• Individual withholding payments for the month declined by $57.2 million, or -5.2 percent.

• Individual estimated tax payments were down $219.7 million, or -49.5 percent.

• All other individual tax categories, including individual return payments, were down a combined $2.2 million.

Sales and Use Tax: Gross sales and use tax collections increased by $57.4 million, or 5.1 percent, to a total of nearly $1.19 billion for the month. Net sales and use tax increased by $11.6 million, or 2 percent, compared to January 2018, when net sales tax totaled $587.4 million. The adjusted sales tax distribution to local governments totaled $581.5 million, for an increase of roughly $43.6 million, or 8.1 percent, over the previous fiscal year. Lastly, sales tax refunds increased by nearly $2.2 million, or 62 percent, over FY 2018.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate income tax collections declined by $8.9 million, or -18.6 percent, from last year, when corporate tax collections totaled nearly $48 million.

The following notable components within corporate income tax make up the net decrease:

• Corporate income tax refunds issued - net of voids - were down $4.9 million, or -26.9 percent.

• Corporate income tax return payments decreased by $10.3 million, or -43.2 percent.

• All other corporate tax types, including corporate estimated payments, were down a combined $3.5 million.

Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor fuel tax collections increased by nearly $1 million, or 0.7 percent, compared to FY 2018.

Motor Vehicle - Tag & Title Fees: Motor vehicle tag and title fees decreased by $2.3 million, or -6.3 percent, during the month, and title ad valorem tax collections declined by nearly $7.3 million, or -9.8 percent, from last year’s total of roughly $74.2 million.