State tax collections spike again in January

In another sign that Georgia’s economy is going strong, state tax collections were up 10 percent in January, making it more likely there will be a big surplus when the fiscal year ends June 30.

Excluding increases in gas taxes approved by lawmakers during last year’s General Assembly session, collections improved 6.4 percent in January over January 2015, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday.

For the first seven months of the fiscal year, collections jumped 8.9 percent, or about $1 billion, from fiscal 2005.

While the gas tax hike played a significant role in the increases in January, individual income tax collections were also up 7.9 percent and net sales taxes were up 2.4 percent. State government gets most of its money from those two taxes.

Deal is counting on a surplus at the end of the fiscal year because he wants to leave office in January 2019 with $2 billion in the state’s savings account.

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