Mass. revenue up 6.2% from Jan. 2013

BOSTON – Mass. Revenue Commissioner Amy Pitter said this month preliminary revenue collections for January totaled $2.4 billion, 6.2 percent above revenue collected in the same month last year.
According to a statement, better-than-expected performance in withholding and corporate/business tax collections offset relatively weak performance in sales tax collections to end the month $83 million above the monthly benchmark based on the fiscal 2014 revised revenue estimate of $23.2 billion.
Pitter said that revenue collections seven months into the fiscal year totaled $13.194 billion, $856 million or 6.9 percent more than at this time last year and $83 million above the year-to-date benchmark.
She also noted that income tax refunds were lower in January, most likely because the IRS delayed the opening of the tax-filing season and many taxpayers file federal and state returns around the same time. •