U.S. states saw their tax revenue drop by about $31 billion, or 6 percent, from March through August, compared to the same period a year earlier, as the pandemic triggered economic shutdowns across the country, according to data from 44 states compiled by the Urban Institute.
The scale of the drop appears smaller than expected, relative to the depth of the economic contraction, and comes after several states have reported that their revenue didn’t decline as much as anticipated despite business shutdowns and increased unemployment. In August, when much of the country was reopening, state revenue climbed about 1.1 percent from a year earlier, the Urban Institute found.
Joe Emison is the co-founder and CTO of Branch. He has been building software and technology organizations for more than 25 years. Prior to Branch, Joe founded BuildFax, the company's leading provider of building permit data to financial institutions (acquired by Verisk); Spaceful, software for tenant-rep brokers in commercial real estate (acquired by Xceligent), and BluePrince, software for managing local building departments (acquired by Harris Computer). Joe graduated with degrees in English and Mathematics from Williams College and has a law degree from Yale Law School.
Melbourne O'Banion is Bestow's CEO and co-founder. An entrepreneur and seasoned investor, O'Banion has a track record of start-up success. Before Bestow, he was a founding member of Presidio Title, a leading title insurance agency in Texas. And together with his wife, he founded Beauty Bioscience, a luxury skincare line. He's a member of the National Advisory Council for the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, where he studied Finance and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and is on the board of the SMU Tate Lecture Series.
The tax figures come as Republicans in Washington balk at extending aid to states and cities to help cover budget deficits that are expected to continue as the coronavirus weighs on the economy. Experts say that states’ financial outlooks could worsen as the effects of the stimulus bill fade and high unemployment reduces tax bills next year.
The August increase should be viewed with caution since income-tax deadlines were pushed back to July, which could have resulted in some revenue being processed later, according to Lucy Dadayan, senior research associate with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Personal income-tax collections, which rose 3.8 percent in August, were in some cases supported by backlogged unemployment insurance benefits subject to withholding tax, Dadayan said.
Between March and August, tax revenues fell 6.4 percent year over year, with 36 states reporting declines over that period, the report said. Between March and August, eight states, including Washington and Georgia, reported growth in tax revenue.
“Due to the shifting in timing of tax receipts this past year, it is crucial to view August year-over-year revenue gains and fiscal year to date data with caution,” Dadayan said in the report.