Net collections of California's corporate income tax (corporation tax, or CT) were about $160 million (3%) above the administration's projections for the fiscal year to date as of the end of March. April 2015 CT collections came in $86 million (5%) above the administration's most recent projection for that month alone. Accordingly, CT ended the month of April $250 million (3.5%) above the administration's projection for the 2014-15 fiscal year to date.
April Is a Major Corporation Tax Collection Month. April is a major CT collection month because many corporations make their first installment payment for tax year 2015 in mid-April. (Under current law, most corporations must pay estimated tax payments during the tax year in three installments.) We expect that about 20% of the total fiscal year CT revenue will be collected in April.
Up From Last April. The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) collected a net total of $1.8 billion in CT during the month of April. This amount is 5.8% more than was collected last April and 5% more than the Department of Finance estimated in the 2015-16 Governor's Budget. The moderately strong collections this month appear to be a continuation of the positive CT revenue trend observed all year.
(Updated May 5, 2015, to reflect updated FTB figures.)