Drop in State Income Tax Collections for April 21

State income tax collections for April 21 were $528 million – a drop of almost $700 million from the previous day, according to a Franchise Tax Board tally.

The state budget proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown in January predicts income tax collections of $6.8 billion by the 30^th.

If collections fail to reach that total, the state’s budget gap – estimated at $26.6 billion by the Democratic governor – will grow.  If more than $6.8 billion is received, the gap shrinks.

State Controller John Chiang says during the previous fiscal year 53 percent of the state’s revenues came from income taxes and 16 percent of that total was collected in April.

From April 18 – the deadline for tax payments — through April 20, the state logged nearly $3.3 billion in tax receipts.

Bank and corporate tax payments totaled $680 million for the three-day period falling to $10 million on the 21^st.  Brown’s Department of Finance expects businesses to pay $1.6 billion in April.

With nine days remaining in the month, income tax collections stand at $5.5 billion.

There could be another spike in payments Monday April 25, reflecting those returns opened over the weekend by the tax board.

The Democratic governor’s budget writers also expect there to be requests for refunds of nearly $2.5 billion during the month. Through April 21, there are under $2.3 billion.

Another $2.8 billion is projected to be collected by the Employment Development Department through the withholding payments employers remove from employee paychecks.

Traditionally, April has been the most significant month for income tax receipts. Budget-related legislation designed to sweep more money into state coffers sooner has made June almost as important a month for collections.

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