State Tax Collections Across U.S. Take Second Consecutive Record Plunge

 

Tax collections for two major sources of revenue -- sales taxes and personal income taxes -- declined for the third consecutive quarter. Income tax was down by 27.5 percent, while sales tax was down by 9.5 percent.
Courtesy of eHow

For the second quarter in a row, tax revenues collected by states plummeted sharply in the April-to-June 2009 period, according to the latest quarterly report on state revenue collections issued by the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

When compared to the same period one year earlier, Second Quarter 2009 tax revenues in the 50 states dropped a record 16.6 percent -- the second consecutive quarter in which revenues fell more sharply than during any previous time on record. All but one state saw total tax revenue fall during the quarter, with 36 states reporting double-digit declines.

"Many economists believe that the national recession has ended and that a tepid recovery is now underway," according to the report. "Unfortunately for states, an emerging economic recovery does not spell instant budget relief."

For the year ending in June 2009, the period corresponding to most states' fiscal years, total state tax collections declined by $63 billion or 8.2 percent from the previous year. That loss is roughly twice the amount states gained during the year in fiscal relief from the federal recovery package.

– Courtesy of AASHTO