April Tax Collections — Three Days to Go

With three days left in April, the Franchise Tax Board reports personal income tax collections of $7.4 billion — $1.5 billion short of the amount state budget writers predict California will collect.

Corporate tax collections – expected to reach $2.3 billion this month — are at $1.5 billion as of April 27.    Read more »

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Eight Days Left in April — Still Nearly $4 Billion Short

With eight days left in April, personal income tax receipts crested $5 billion – less than half the $12.8 billion collected in April 2008 and almost $4 billion short of the $8.9 billion, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Department of Finance estimates the state will take in during the month.

 April is a crucial budgetary month because it is when the state receives the most personal income tax revenue.    Read more »

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Good but Not Great

Traditionally, the final two Mondays of April – after the income tax deadline on the 15th  — are the biggest collection days of California’s biggest income tax collection month.

On April 20, the Franchise Tax Board reported $1,150,715 billion in income tax revenue, pushing the month’s total collections to nearly $4.1 billion.    Read more »

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So Goes California…

Bank of America recently posted earnings for the quarter ending March 31 of $4.25 billion or .44 cents per share – far outstripping the .04 cents per share predicted by the market.

Net earnings for the company during all four quarters of 2008 totaled $4 billion.

However, most of the gabbling on the ticker-tape cable channels was whether the earnings, on record income of $36 billion, stemmed from the giant corporation’s fiscal health or continued sickness.    Read more »

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Federal Money for Public Schools — On-Hand but Undelivered.

More than two weeks ago, California received $1.2 billion of the roughly $4.9 billion in federal stimulus money for public schools – but the funds can’t be given to schools without legislative approval which could delay delivery of the money until May 9.

The $1.2 billion — $562.5 million for low-income pupils, $634 million for students with special education needs and $13 million for nutrition programs — is of major benefit to larger, urban school districts, which have the biggest populations of low-income and special needs students.    Read more »

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Smiling Faces at the Franchise Tax Board

Income tax collections for April nearly doubled on April 16 as the Franchise Tax Board logged $950,762 boosting the month’s tally from $1.3 billion to close to $2.3 billion.  

As the state’s largest month for income tax revenue, April is key to the state’s fiscal condition. Lower-than-anticipated collections mean a bigger budget cash shortfall.    Read more »

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Hats Off to the Other Economic Stimulators

What a touching Disney-esque moment. Down-right heart-warming. Like living inside a Norman Rockwell painting.

Thousands — possibly tens of thousands — of American and non-American families brought their own economic stimulus plans to the nation’s capitol the weekend commencing April 10.

Compared to their generosity, the Lucas Family Economic Stimulus Plan (LFESP) was the equivalent of tossing a thimble of water into Lake Shasta.    Read more »

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The First Week of April Tax Receipts

 A lot can change between now and the end of April, the largest revenue collection month for the state. But a look at the first eight days of the month isn’t exactly banner news for the state’s fiscal health.

In 2008, not exactly a boom year either, $703,166 in personal income taxes was paid in the first eight days of the month.    Read more »

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March Badness

While not one of California’s big revenue-generating months, comparing this year’s March collections with prior years offers further evidence that when lawmakers and the governor revisit the state budget after the May 19 special election the situation will be worse, not better.

Because of taxes due on the 15th, April is the state’s biggest revenue generating month and balances on hand on the 30th will reveal a lot more about California’s fiscal condition.    Read more »

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Attention Businesses and Consumers

It begins April 1. The sales tax increases by 1 percent. It is the first of the $12.5 billion in tax increases contained in the budget signed into law February 20 to take effect.

With the tax hike, the average sales tax rate in California’s 58 counties is just short of 9 percent.    Read more »

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