Providence, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Department of Revenue today released its FY 2020 Cash Collections Report for September 2019. The Cash Collections Report, which is issued monthly, compares current fiscal year cash collections by revenue item on a fiscal year-to-date and monthly basis to prior fiscal year cash collections by revenue item. The cash collections report makes no adjustments for the timeliness of the receipt of deposits and provides readers with insight into the state's cash flow over the course of the fiscal year.
Rhode Island Department of Revenue Director Mark A. Furcolo noted: "FY 2020 total general revenue cash collections through September are equivalent to cash collections received last fiscal year through September of 2018. The growth rate for FY 2020 through September of 0.1% is below the 9.1% growth rate recorded in the FY 2019 through September period last year. The increase in FY 2019 total general revenues through September included the contemporaneous transfer of $30.8 million of lottery revenues. Controlling for this advance in the lottery transfer in year-to-date FY 2019 would yield a difference in cash collections between FY 2020 through September and FY 2019 through September of $31.8 million, or 3.0%. FY 2020 personal income tax cash collections through September were $13.8 million more than in FY 2019 through September, while FY 2020 through September sales and use tax cash collections were $21.0 million above the same period last fiscal year."
Notable cash collections items on a September fiscal year-to-date basis included: • Total personal income tax cash collections of $347.2 million, up 4.1% year-to-date. o Personal income tax withholding payments are up $10.7 million or 3.8% year-to-date, an increase from the 0.3% fiscal year to date growth rate recorded in September 2018. o Personal income tax refunds and adjustments are $7.2 million, or 39.5%, more year-to-date, the reverse of the 21.0% decrease recorded for the fiscal year-to-date period in September 2018. o Year-to-date estimated and final payments are a combined $10.3 million more in FY 2020 than in FY 2019, an increase of 14.4% fiscal year-to-date over fiscal year-to-date. • Year-to-date September 2019 sales and use tax cash collections were up 7.0% in comparison to FY 2019 through September with total non-motor vehicle receipts $19.0 million more, meal and beverage receipts 6.2% more and motor vehicle sales and use tax receipts (i.e., Registry Receipts) $2.1 million more than the prior year. • All other general revenue sources cash collections through September were up $4.9 million relative to last fiscal year. This increase reflects higher cash collections for general business taxes of $6.3 million buttressed by higher cash collections of $1.8 million for estate and transfer taxes and offset by a shortfall in cigarette and other tobacco products tax cash collections of $2.6 million. • Fiscal year-to-date through September 2019 departmental receipts cash collections are $4.8 million, or 2.2% less than in FY 2019 through September primarily due to lower licenses and fees cash collections of $4.3 million. • The lottery transfer in the new fiscal year reflects transfers of $61.7 million in FY 2020 through September vs. $95.8 million in FY 2019 through September. The FY 2019 year-to-date transfer consisted of contemporaneous transfers of $31.0 million and the traditional cash transfer for July through August activity of $64.8 million. In FY 2020 through September, only the cash generated by gaming activity in July through August 2019 was transferred in September.
Notable month of September cash collections items included: • Increased September 2019 personal income tax cash collections of $9.5 million, 6.5% above September 2018. o The increase in September 2019 personal income tax cash collections is primarily attributable to increases in withholding and estimated payments of $9.9 million, a combined variance of 6.8%. The increase in September 2019 personal income tax withholding and estimated payments is an increase from September 2018 when combined withholding and estimated payments were $8.3 million more than the prior year, a variance of 6.1%. • Increased September 2019 sales and use tax cash collections of $8.0 million or 8.2% from September 2018 with continued strong monthly growth in sales and use taxes received from sales activity other than motor vehicle purchases and meals and beverages prepared for immediate consumption of 9.1% coupled with increases in sales tax collections on meals and beverages of $1.3 million and motor vehicles of $779,100. • Total general business taxes for September are $3.2 million more than the same month last fiscal year, an increase of 3.9%. This increase was achieved even though business corporation tax cash collections are $7.0 million less than in September of 2018, a decrease of 22.6%. • Increased realty transfer tax cash collections for September 2019 of $2.1 million vs. September 2018 due to the payment of the local and Housing Resources Commission's share of controlling interest transfer tax payments that were received in August 2018. • Lower departmental receipts cash collections in September 2019 of $2.3 million, a variance of 13.4% and a decrease in year-over-year cigarette and other tobacco products excise tax cash collections of $2.0 million, or 16.5%.
The full cash collections report can be found on the Department of Revenue's web site, www.dor.ri,gov, under the Revenue Analysis directory or at this link: http://www.dor.ri.gov/revenue-analysis/2020.php under the State Reports tab.
Questions or comments on the report should be directed to Paul Grimaldi, Chief of Information and Public Relations by e-mail at paul.grimaldi@revenue.ri.gov or by phone at (401) 574-8766.