Providence, R.I -- The Rhode Island Department of Revenue today released its FY 2017 Cash Collections Report for November 2016. The Cash Collections Report, which is issued on a monthly basis, 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 revenues and provides readers with insight into the state's cash flow over the course of the fiscal year.
Rhode Island Department of Revenue Director Robert S. Hull noted: "FY 2017 total general revenue cash collections through November are up 2.4 percent, or $34.5 million more than was received last fiscal year through November of 2015. The growth rate for FY 2017 through November is approximately 60 percent of the 3.9 percent growth rate recorded in the FY 2016 through November period last year. FY 2017 personal income tax cash collections through November were $8.9 million more than in FY 2016 through November while FY 2017 through November sales and use tax cash collections were $9.0 million more than the same period in FY 2016. FY 2017 through November departmental receipts were greater than the same period in FY 2016 by a total of $15.6 million. The lottery transfer for the FY 2017 year-to-date period through November was flat vis-à-vis the same period in FY 2016 while fiscal year-to-date through November 2016 all other revenues were $903,587 million more than the same period last year.
Notable cash collections items on a November fiscal year-to-date basis included: • Total personal income tax cash collections of approximately $501.2 million, up $8.9 million or 1.8 percent year-to-date. o Personal income tax withholding payments up $25.0 million or 5.9 percent year to date, substantively more than the 4.0 percent fiscal year to date growth rate recorded in November 2015. This increase includes the receipt of a large, infrequently occurring payment of $3.3 million in August 2016. o Personal income tax final payments up $6.6 million, or 27.7 percent year-to-date, higher than the 18.4 percent fiscal year-to-date growth rate for the same period last fiscal year. o Personal income tax refunds and adjustments up $26.6 million or 160.2 percent year-to-date due primarily to the Division of Taxation working down the backlog of personal income tax refunds that resulted from enhanced fraud protocols and processing changes employed for the TY 2015 filing season. • Year-to-date November 2016 sales and use tax cash collections up $9.0 million, or 2.1 percent, from FY 2016 through November due in part to a $2.3 million audit recovery of prior year sales and use tax owed. • FY 2017 all other general revenue sources cash collections through November are up relative to last fiscal year at this time, due in large part to FY 2017 insurance companies gross premiums tax cash collections through November offsetting shortfalls in motor vehicle license and registration fees and estate and transfer taxes. • Fiscal year-to-date through November 2016 departmental receipts cash collections are $15.7 million, or 7.5 percent, more than in FY 2016 through November primarily due to increased FY 2016 hospital licensing fee payments received in July 2016.
Notable month of November cash collections items included: • November 2016 personal income tax cash collections of $96.1 million, 1.5 percent above November 2015 and significantly below the 15.5 percent growth rate recorded last year. o November 2016 personal income tax withholding payments cash collections were flat versus November 2015. o A year-over-year increase in November 2016 personal income tax estimated payments of $4.1 million due to the receipt of large payments totaling $2.6 million in November 2016. • November 2016 sales and use tax cash collections of $81.7 million are 2.1 percent above November 2015. The increase in November 2016 sales and use tax cash collections is due to an increase in net Taxation receipts as both registry receipts and sales and use tax payments from the Providence Place Mall were down year-over-year. • Lower all other revenues cash collections than in November 2015 by a total of $2.7 million or 10.0 percent. Year-over-year increases in business corporations and cigarettes tax cash collections were offset by a large decrease in estate and transfer tax cash collections. • Decreased lottery transfer for November 2016 of $2.3 million, or 7.3 percent less than November 2015 driven in large part by the inclusion of $1.1 million in revenues in November 2015 that had been previously accrued to FY 2015. o Traditional lottery games, monitor games such as Keno, and the video lottery terminals at Twin River continued to show year-over-year declines in revenue transferred to the general fund while table games at Twin River and Newport Grand video lottery terminals yielded increases in revenue transferred to the general fund year-over-year.
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/2017.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.