June Tax Receipts Still Falling Short of Revenue Projections

With five days left in the month, state tax receipts for June are $211 million short of revenue projections.

In his revised budget released in May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated more than $5.5 billion in income tax revenue and $2.1 billion in bank and corporation tax payments for June.

If June payments come in above estimates, the state’s $17.9 billion budget hole shrinks. Below estimates, it deepens.

Through June 24, the Franchise Tax Board reports $3.1 billion in income tax payments and $2 billion in bank and corporations tax receipts.

The Employment Development Department to which businesses send withholding – the taxes subtracted from employee paychecks – has received $2.5 billion.

Refund requests total $189 million.

Income tax payments less refunds equals a little over $5.4 billion — $111 million below projections by Schwarzenegger’s Department of Finance.

It’s unclear whether bank and corporations tax receipts will reach $2.1 billion.

Collections are sputtering as the month winds own. For example, on June 23, $87 million in income tax payments were logged. On the 24^th, $26 million.

Similarly, bank and corporations tax payments fell from $22 million to $7 million over the same two days.

Because of changes made in last year’s budget, June, rather than April, has become the most significant revenue collection month of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

To pull more future income into the current and previous fiscal year, the 2009 budget front-loaded estimated tax payments so that 40 percent, rather than 25 percent, come due in June.

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