New York took in $3B more in revenue than predicted in past year, comptroller says

(The Center Square) – New York state collected $3 billion more in tax revenue than anticipated during the 2020-21 fiscal year, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

In all, the state received $82.4 billion, according to the comptroller’s statement. While it was still more than $513 million less than what the state collected for the 2019-20 fiscal year, it not only beat the state’s amended financial plan that was released in February by $3 billion, but it also exceeded initial forecasts last May by $6.8 billion.

Those forecasts took into consideration the COVID-19 pandemic and the projected impact the closures and other business restrictions would have on the state’s economy.

While exceeding expectations, DiNapoli said the state still needs to tread cautiously moving forward.

“We face a long road to recovery, and the state’s economy still faces serious challenges, both in the short-term and long-term,” he said in a statement. “Better-than-anticipated tax collections, federal resources and new revenues in the recently adopted budget allow for important investments in critical programs and services, but state policymakers must ensure that spending commitments are in line with recurring revenue sources.”

Among tax sources, personal income taxes made up $55 billion of the state’s collections. That was $1.3 billion more than was the state received in 2019-20. It also exceeded February’s projections by $1.9 billion and last May’s by $5.9 billion.

The state even processed $437 million more in state tax refunds than anticipated over the last quarter of the fiscal year, DiNapoli said.

While the state received more in personal income taxes, it saw decreases in consumption and business taxes from the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Consumption-based taxes fell by more than 10 percent from the previous fiscal year to $16.1 billion. Still, the final amount was $116.4 million higher than the state forecast in February and $643.4 million more than initial projections.

Business taxes made up $8.8 billion of the state’s revenue. That was down $203.4 million from the 19-20 fiscal year. While that exceeded the February projections by $614.4 million, it was still $164.6 million under what the state initially expected to get.

At the end of the fiscal year, the state’s operating funds totaled $104.2 billion, a 2 percent increase from last year, and the general fund ended the year with a balance of nearly $9.2 billion, up $216.6 million from the previous year.

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