Weekend Tax Payments Tallied

This morning we received two additional data points on California’s tax receipts.  For April 7, which includes funds received during the weekend, retail sales taxes totaled about $20 million, the highest daily number so far this month and nearly double the number recorded after last week’s three-day weekend/holiday.  Estimated taxes totaled $136 million, which appears to be somewhat on the softer side.  Including these latest two figures, California’s revenues from its tops three tax sources—personal income, corporate, and sales taxes—are at $64.5 billion for the fiscal year to date.

Tax tracker records collections in the three major taxes. Are there other revenues that are deposited in the General Fund?  Levies on insurance, alcohol and horse racing are General Fund revenue sources.  Interest on unclaimed property is deposited in the General Fund.  Proceeds from levies of the VLF and property tax are not, as they are considered “local” taxes. Last week, the state completed the third quarter of the fiscal year. 

Playoffs Tonight

While the NCAA tournament may be on the minds of many, California’s revenue watch is on a full court press as the critical tax season begins.  A word of caution should be mentioned about preliminary estimates made with initial data feeds from the reporting agencies: While the preliminary numbers for the first four days of April tallied tax receipts from California’s three major revenue sources at about $1.5 billion, revised numbers put the total at $830 million.  The variance could also easily be positive on the state’s behalf, but analysts should not overreact to early estimates.