State tax receipts totaled $51.5 billion through the first six months of State Fiscal Year 2023-24, $1.7 billion higher than estimates released in the Division of the Budget’s (DOB) July Update to the Enacted Budget Financial Plan. However, tax receipts were $6.9 billion lower than the first half of SFY 2022-23, according to the monthly State Cash Report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
“The economy exhibited resilience in the first half of the year,” DiNapoli said. “Continued job gains, wage growth, and easing inflation were all contributing factors to higher-than-expected tax receipts. However, global unrest, labor strikes, and a potential federal government shutdown could slow the economy, adding to existing budget challenges that include significant out-year budget gaps.”
Through the midyear, personal income tax (PIT) receipts totaled $26 billion and were $49 million below DOB’s updated financial plan projections. However, PIT receipts were $7.2 billion lower than the same period in SFY 2022-23, reflecting, in part, this year’s financial market volatility as well as how PIT credits were claimed in SFY 2022-23 under the pass-through entity tax (PTET).
Year-to-date consumption and use tax collections totaled $11 billion which were 6.8%, or $698.4 million, higher than the same period last year and $105.3 million higher than DOB estimates. Sales tax receipts, the largest share of these taxes, increased by $563.1 million, or 6%. Business taxes, which included collections from the PTET, totaled $12.8 billion, $129.3 million lower than through September in the prior fiscal year, but $1.6 billion higher than DOB projections.
The State’s General Fund ended September with a balance of $48 billion, $3 billion higher than DOB projected, primarily due to higher than anticipated tax collections and lower than anticipated spending.
