CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state’s tax collections exceeded monthly revenue estimates by $134.4 million in May.
With one month left in the fiscal year, the state has collected $1.7 billion more than original estimates.
Personal income collections continued to perform well in May, exceeding estimates by $61.1 million. State Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy predicted the increase with the impact of the 21% cut in personal income taxes approved by state lawmakers and signed into law by the governor earlier this year. Hardy said that will send the personal income tax collection number down but the money residents save may mean an increase in consumer sales tax collections.
“We all have things that we defer, big ticket items, like cars or appliances and when people see more money in their paycheck or pay less estimated taxes or both, they tend to feed that money back into the economy and then the multiplier effect occurs,” Hardy told MetroNews last month.
MORE see May collection numbers here
Severance tax collections also exceeded estimates in May. The state reported collections were up $47.8 million for the month.
The consumer sales tax was up $16.2 million.
June is the last month of the fiscal year.