Treasury: Revenue Collections Down 5.1 Percent in September
TRENTON - The Department of the Treasury reported that September revenue collections for the major taxes totaled $4.844 billion, down $258.4 million, or 5.1 percent from last September. The majority of the month's anticipated decline in revenues was due to lower quarterly estimated payments and higher refunds under the Gross Income Tax (GIT). Year-to-date, total collections of $7.880 billion are down $517.0 million, or 6.2 percent from the same period last fiscal year.
September collections for the GIT, which are dedicated to the Property Tax Relief Fund, totaled $1.683 billion, down $189.2 million, or 10.1 percent below last year. Employer withholding collections continued to show strength, in the face of uncertainty in the labor market. Declines in estimated and final payments, and higher refunds, more than offset the revenue increase from withholding. Fiscal year-to-date collections of $3.131 billion are down $244.4 million, or 7.2 percent.
The Sales and Use Tax (SUT), the largest General Fund revenue source, totaled $1.017 billion for September, down $2.0 million, or 0.2 percent from last year. Due to a one-month lag in the reporting and payment of Sales Tax, September revenue reflects consumer activity in August. September collections also reflected the partial impact of New Jersey's Back-To-School Sales Tax Holiday, which occurred from August 26 through September 4. Fiscal year-to-date collections of $2.110 billion are up $5.5 million, or 0.3 percent.
The Corporation Business Tax (CBT), the second largest General Fund revenue source, totaled $1.057 billion in September, a decrease of $70.6 million, or 6.3 percent from last September. Fiscal year-to-date collections of $1.153 billion are down $197.5 million, or 14.6 percent. All CBT revenue components are lower on a year-to-date basis, led by a decline in partnership return collections, while refunds are higher.
Pass-Through Business Alternative Income Tax (PTBAIT) revenues totaled $768.3 million in September, higher by $47.2 million, or 6.6 percent over last year. Much of September's revenue growth is attributable to payments by those entities that filed their final extension returns. Fiscal year-to-date revenues of $755.8 million are down by $1.7 million, or nearly flat with the same period last year.
Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax (PPGRT) revenues of $124.1 million were effectively flat compared with last September, showing a $793,000 increase. Fiscal year-to-date collections of $247.5 million are down $2.9 million, or 1.2 percent from last year. The PPGRT rate was increased by 0.9 cents, to 31.8 cents per gallon, effective on October 1, 2023. This increase will impact collections beginning in November 2023.
Realty Transfer Fee revenues of $44.0 million were down $18.4 million, or 29.5 percent from last year, as the year-over-year declines in collections continue. Reductions in unit closed sales continue to be the main driver behind the lower realty collections, while declines in inventories of homes available for sale have accelerated for most of the year, exerting upward pressure on home prices. Mortgage rates remain at elevated levels.
Treasury anticipates that Fiscal Year 2024 (FY2024) revenue collections for the major taxes will decline for much of the first half of the fiscal year, followed by growth in the second half.
Please see the attached chart for monthly and yearly revenue collection comparisons.
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