The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration on Tuesday reported August net available general revenue of $517.6 million, down $24.4 million, or 4.5%, from a year ago.
Collections came in above forecast by $17.3 million, or 3.5% higher than projected.
The department reported that gross general revenue in the month totaled $613.3 million, a decrease of $1.5 million, or 0.2%, from the same month a year ago. The figure was $33.5 million, or 5.8%, above forecast.
All major collection categories were above forecast.
Sales tax collection growth was driven higher by motor vehicle sales, retail and restaurants, reflecting continuing economic expansion in many sectors, the department reported. Collections totaled $292.1 million, an increase of $4 million, or 1.4%, above last year. That beat the projected amount by $8.6 million, or 3.1%. Collections from motor vehicle sales taxes were up 7.9% from a year ago.
Individual income tax collections totaled $256.6 million, down $8.7 million, or 3.3%, compared to last year and above forecast by $20.8 million, or 8.8%. Individual withholding tax revenue decreased 10.5% compared to last year, in part due to payday timing effects compared to year ago and tax rate cuts.
Corporate income collections totaled $9.4 million, up $2.4 million from a year ago and $3.9 million above forecast.
Among smaller revenue sources, tobacco tax collections totaled $17 million, lower than a year ago and about $300,000 above forecast.
Gaming tax revenue came in at $4.2 million, higher than in August 2022 and above forecast by about $100,000.
