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Pennsylvania DOR Announces August 2020 Revenue Collections

Dated Sep. 3, 2020

SUMMARY BY TAX ANALYSTS

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has announced that general fund revenue collections for August totaled $2.5 billion, of which roughly $187 million is attributable to the extension of corporate net income tax due dates in response to COVID-19; sales tax, personal income tax, corporation tax, inheritance tax, and realty transfer tax revenues were $1 billion, $876.1 million, $303.3 million, $92.1 million, and $56.5 million, respectively.

Revenue Department Releases August 2020 Collections

09/01/2020

Harrisburg, PA — Pennsylvania collected $2.5 billion in General Fund revenue in August, which was $209 million, or 8.9 percent, more than anticipated, Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell reported today. Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $6.7 billion, which is $210.3 million, or 3.3 percent, above estimate.

The Department of Revenue estimates that approximately $187 million of the revenue collected in August can be attributed to extending the due date to August 14, 2020 for corporations that had annual corporate net income tax payments due in April, May, June or July.

“August revenue collections show us that we're still seeing the effects of extending tax deadlines to provide relief to Pennsylvania taxpayers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those extensions included moving back the deadline for corporate taxpayers to file their returns and make their annual payments,” Secretary Hassell said. “We will continue to keep a close eye on revenue collections so that the Governor and members of the General Assembly have the most up-to-date information possible in the coming months.”

Below is a full overview of August revenues by tax type.

Sales tax receipts totaled $1 billion for August, $92.7 million above estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $2.3 billion, which is $92.7 million, or 4.2 percent, more than anticipated.

Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in August was $876.1 million, $42.9 million above estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $3.2 billion, which is $42.9 million, or 1.4 percent, above estimate.

August corporation tax revenue of $303.3 million was $26.8 million above estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $543.8 million, which is $28.2 million, or 5.5 percent, above estimate.

Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $92.1 million, $5.9 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $210.4 million, which is $5.8 million, or 2.9 percent, above estimate.

Realty transfer tax revenue was $56.5 million for August, $14.3 million above estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $74.4 million, which is $14.3 million, or 23.8 percent, more than anticipated.

Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and gaming taxes, totaled $169.4 million for the month, $32 million above estimate and bringing the year-to-date total to $314.3 million, which is $31.9 million, or 11.3 percent, above estimate.

Non-tax revenue totaled $20.6 million for the month, $5.6 million below estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $34.8 million, which is $5.5 million, or 13.7 percent, below estimate.

In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $265.8 million for the month, $0.9 million below estimate. Fiscal year-to-date collections for the fund — which include the commonly known gas and diesel taxes, as well as other license, fine and fee revenues — total $553.2 million, which is $6.4 million, or 1.2 percent, above estimate.

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