Boston, MA — Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for December totaled $3.776 billion, $82 million or 2.1% less than actual collections in December 2022, and $138 million or 3.5% below benchmark.^[1]

FY2024 year-to-date collections totaled approximately $17.869 billion, which is $60 million or 0.3% more than collections in the same period of FY2023, but $769 million or 4.1% less than the year-to-date benchmark.

“December collections decreased in non-withheld income tax, sales and use tax, corporate and business tax, and ‘all other’ tax in comparison to December 2022,” said Commissioner Snyder. “These decreases were partially offset by an increase in income tax withholding. The decrease in non-withheld income tax was driven primarily by lower income tax estimated and return payments and an unfavorable increase in income tax refunds. The decrease in sales and use tax was mainly due to typical timing factors in collections. The decrease in ‘all other’ tax is mostly attributable to a decrease in estate tax, a category that tends to fluctuate.”

December is a significant month for revenues because many corporate and business taxpayers are required to make quarterly estimated payments. In addition, some quarterly personal income tax estimated payments due by January 15th are received in December.

Historically, roughly 9.5% of annual revenue, on average, has been received during December. Revenue collections are uneven and usually weighted toward the second half of the fiscal year. Therefore, it may be premature to use year-to-date results to assess trends for the entire fiscal year.

Details

• Income tax collections for December totaled $2.229 billion, $42 million or 1.9% below benchmark, and $0.2 million or 0.01% less than December 2022.
• Withholding tax collections for December totaled $1.756 billion, $74 million or 4.4% above benchmark, and $173 million or 10.9% more than December 2022.
• Income tax estimated payments for December totaled $436 million, $46 million or 9.5% below benchmark, and $82 million or 15.9% less than December 2022.
• Income tax returns and bills for December totaled $102 million, $16 million or 13.4% below benchmark, and $38 million or 27.4% less than December 2022.
• Income tax cash refunds for December totaled $66 million in outflows, $54 million or 472.1% above benchmark, and $53 million or 407.4% more than December 2022.
• Sales and use tax collections for December totaled $755 million, $37 million or 4.7% below benchmark, and $39 million or 5.0% less than December 2022.
• Corporate and business tax collections for December totaled $619 million, $21 million or 3.2% below benchmark, and $6 million or 1.0% less than December 2022.
• “All other” tax collections for December totaled $173 million, $38 million or 17.8% below benchmark, and $37 million or 17.4% less than December 2022.

December 2023 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of January 4, 2024

[1]

With the enactment of the FY2024 budget, monthly revenue benchmarks were developed for the August 2023 through June 2024 period. The benchmarks included in this press release do not include the impact of the tax relief bill enacted on October 4, 2023; the tax relief bill impacts are expected to affect revenues beginning in December 2023 or January 2024.

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