Main Banner

NEWS from the Office of the New York State Comptroller
Contact: Press Office 518-474-4015

DiNapoli: January Tax Collections Fall Short

February 23, 2015

State tax collections through the first 10 months of the state’s fiscal year rose 1 percent from last year to $58.9 billion, but were $367.3 million below the state’s latest estimates because of lower than expected Personal Income Tax (PIT) collections, according to the January state cash report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“Tax revenues coming into the state have been generally on track this year, but last month’s tax collections fell short of expectations,” DiNapoli said. “With two months left in the state’s fiscal year, this is a trend to watch closely.”

State tax receipts in January of $9.2 billion were down 1.3 percent from last year. PIT receipts, the state’s largest source of tax revenue, through the first 10 months of the current fiscal year totaled $37.4 billion, 0.6 percent higher than last year for the same period. Year-to-date collections from PIT were $467.6 million below the state’s latest Financial Plan projections but $301.4 million higher than initial projections made last April. The Division of the Budget is expected to issue a revised Financial Plan with updated revenue projections this week.

Other findings from the January cash report include:

  • Consumption and use tax collections totaled $13 billion through Jan. 31, an increase of 1.9 percent from the previous year and $2.8 million higher than updated projections. Business tax collections through January totaled $5.6 billion, representing an increase of 1.9 percent from last year, and $59.5 million above the latest projections. Total tax collections through January were $946.7 million higher than initial projections in April 2014.
  • All Funds receipts totaled $120.7 billion through January, $746.7 million below updated projections. The majority of the variance was in taxes ($367.3 million) and miscellaneous receipts ($261.9 million). Federal receipts totaling $38.7 billion were $117.5 million below the latest projections.
  • All Funds spending of $112.2 billion through Jan. 31 was $264.7 million lower than updated projections. Spending for local assistance programs totaled $81.9 billion and was 5.6 percent, or $4.3 billion, higher than last year and $33.2 million less than updated projections. State operations totaled $16.4 billion through January, which was $131.6 million less than planned. Debt service totaled $2.8 billion and was $694.8 million lower than last year, and less than $1 million below projections.
  • The General Fund ended January with a balance of $10.4 billion, which was $241.5 million less than the latest projections, but $2.2 billion more than last year at the same time.

DiNapoli's office issues a state cash report every month identifying actual state revenues and spending from the prior month. The cash report focuses primarily on the General Fund and All Governmental Funds. The General Fund is the major operating fund of the state. All Governmental Funds includes General, Special Revenue, Debt Service and Capital Projects funds, as well as funds from the federal government. The report is now accessible in Excel and Adobe formats.

Since becoming Comptroller, DiNapoli has created several tools to allow the public to better track government spending, contracts and other fiscal issues. These are easily accessible on his transparency website, Open Book New York