Census Bureau Reports State Government Tax Collections Decrease $67 Billion in 2009

Income Taxes Down 12 Percent, Corporate Taxes Down 21 Percent

WASHINGTON, March 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- State government tax collections totaled $715.2 billion in fiscal year 2009, a $66.9 billion (8.6 percent) decrease from 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

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According to data from the 2009 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections, taxes on individual income were $245.9 billion, down 11.8 percent, while general sales taxes were $228.1 billion, down 5.4 percent. Corporate net income taxes were $40.3 billion, down 20.7 percent. These taxes made up 71.9 percent of all state government tax collections nationally.  

"The 2009 state tax collection data is the first component of government finance data released each fiscal year and provides an important indicator of the fiscal condition of state governments," said Lisa Blumerman, chief of the Census Bureau's Governments Division.

Severance taxes – imposed for removal of natural resources (e.g., oil, gas, coal, timber, fish, etc.) – were down $4.8 billion in 2009, a 26.5 percent decrease. This followed a 65.2 percent increase in fiscal year 2008. The largest decreases in severance taxes were seen in the South and the West.

The decline of revenue from mortgages, deeds or securities (documentary and stock transfer taxes) resulted in a $2.8 billion loss, a 36.0 percent decrease, with the largest decrease in the South.

States with the largest percent decrease in revenue from individual income taxes were Arizona (42.5 percent), South Carolina (29.6 percent), Tennessee (23.8 percent) and New Mexico (23.2 percent).

States with the largest percent decrease in revenue from corporate net income tax were Michigan (63.5 percent), Oregon (45.8 percent), New Mexico (42.6 percent) and Utah (37.7 percent).

These files and tables contain annual statistics on the fiscal year tax collections of all 50 state governments, including receipts from licenses and compulsory fees. Tax revenues also include related penalty and interest receipts of the governments.

These data do not include employer and employee assessments for retirement and social insurance purposes. Also not included are collections for the unemployment compensation taxes imposed by each of the state governments. In addition, these data include tax collections for state governments only; they do not include tax collections from local governments.

Although the data are not subject to sampling error, the statistics are subject to possible inaccuracies in classification, response and processing. Every effort is made to keep such errors to a minimum through care in examining, editing and tabulating the data.

The tax revenue data pertain to state fiscal years that ended June 30, 2009, in all but four states. Amounts shown for these four states reflect the different timing of their respective fiscal years, which were the 12-month periods ending on March 31, 2009, for New York; Aug. 31, 2009, for Texas; and Sept. 30, 2009, for Alabama and Michigan.

Summary of State Tax Collections by Selected Types of Tax: FY 2009

(Figures in thousands of dollars)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Governments Division, 2009 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections. Data users who create their own estimates using data from this report should cite the U.S. Census Bureau as the source of the original data only. The data in this table are based on information from public records and contain no confidential data. Although the data in this table come from a census of state governmental units and are not subject to sampling error, the Census results do contain nonsampling error. Additional information on nonsampling error, response rates, and definitions may be found at: http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/how_data_collected.html"

Editor's note: The report can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/.

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau