September 10, 2018 2:11 PM
August Tax Revenues Up 7 Percent
An announcement made today by Gov. Nathan Deal stated that Georgia’s net tax collections for August, 2018 totaled approximately $1.8 billion, an increase of about $117.4 million (7%) from August, 2017. Net tax revenues for the fiscal year have totaled $3.58 billion, an increase of $176.8 million (5.2%) from this point last year.
The following is a breakdown of the August, 2018 revenues in comparison to August, 2017:
| Description | Amount Collected | Change From Aug. 2017 | % Change |
| Individual income taxes | $939.4 million | $77 million | 8.9% |
| Gross Sales & Use Tax | $1.02 billion | $76.8 million | 8.2% |
| Net Sales & Use Tax | $518.2 million | $54.3 million | 11.7% |
| Corporate income taxes | $18 million | $3.5 million | 23.8% |
| Motor Fuel Taxes | $153.7 million | -$0.2 million | -0.1% |
| Tag and Title Fees | $36.54 million | $4 million | 12.2% |
| Title Ad Valorem Tax | $72.5 million | -$14.0 million | -16.6% |
A copy of the August, 2018 financial report can be seen at the Governor’s website.
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lawtonsack
Lawton is a graduate of Georgia Southern University (the GSU) with a degree in Information Technology. He has held numerous positions within the Georgia Republican Party throughout the years.
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Why do the local sales tax collections always transcend logic as compared to the state sales tax collections?
I could perhaps help answer, but I’m not sure what specific #s you’re looking at.
Something on the full financial report?
Yeah if you look at the month to month data the amount of increase for the state portion is never in line with the local portion. Considering local sales taxes are collected on more items it would be logical that an increase in collections on the state portion would not mean a lesser increase (percentage wise) on the local portion (or in some cases a decrease in the local collections while the state has an increase in collections).
If by ‘local’ we are talking about counties, then I would say that the state portion is always 4%, whereas the local amounts change pretty frequently. There are constantly local option taxes expiring and being added so those rates won’t track well with the state portion.
It is actually very rare that a local tax is discontinued or that a new one is imposed. So, while in theory this explanation works, in practice it does not.
I believe there have been two updates already this year. For the latest one (April) there were 7 changes: Clarke, Colquitt, Decatur, Haralson, Putnam, Walker, and Ware.
Did those jurisdictions discontinue a tax? They are capped by state law as to how many taxes they can impose and I believe all of those locations were at the cap already.
You’re talking about the local distribution figures?
Well, as a starter, it looks like they included the old 1% motor fuels sales taxes in those categories, per the note, and so the passage of HB170 may have had something to do with the %s.
(Without that sales tax, a large chunk of what would otherwise be collected and distributed is gone, so the %s on the remaining funds adjust accordingly.) Maybe Charlie can help out explaining that.
Otherwise, I would look to changes in local options. Without more digging, I also wouldn’t know if “local distributions” includes or excludes payments of sales tax cut-outs to authorities like MARTA.
Do we know how much of the sales tax change was due to the having online sales now taxed? We already had Amazon taxes since it had a in-state hub, but other online sites did not.
0% of the sales tax change is due to online sales tax. The Georgia law does not go into effect until January 1st.
How about taking some money and expanding Medicaid in Georgia?
“Up to 4,200 Georgia agriculture workers could gain affordable health insurance if state lawmakers expand eligibility for the state Medicaid program, according to a 2013 analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. All told, Julia and 470,000 other Georgians could be covered through Medicaid expansion.
For every one dollar invested by state leaders, Georgia would receive nine federal dollars back for health care. That’s a return on investment that any small business owner would love to have, according to Julia.”
https://gbpi.org/2018/expanding-medicaid-can-put-affordable-health-insurance-within-reach-many-georgia-farmers/
Invest in preventive care and some of the rural hospitals, clinics, and MD’s might stay open.
Expand Medicaid in Georgia? GOP state government is seeking to eliminate the requirement that pre-existing conditions be covered by insurance plans. MAGA.
Why can’t democratic candidates promote these selling points? The mantra “expand Medicaid” is SO easily demonized, and the campaign literature never explains the benefits.
Totally agree. They could at least put it on campaign websites for the knowledge seekers. I do look at candidate websites. The ability to make complete sentences and present issues goes a long way for me deciding my vote.
As bad as you guys hate to admit it, these GA figures are the in-state effect of the booming Trump economy.
http://hermancain.com/new-u-s-census-report-trump-economy-is-lifting-fortunes-of-americans-at-every-income-level/