Income tax withholding in February came in $887 million (11 percent) higher the recent projections included in the 2025-26 Governor's Budget. February marks the second straight month where withholding receipts exceeded budget projections by more than 10 percent. The recent trend in withholding appears to represent an uptick in growth compared to the generally strong period last summer. Winter withholding has been running about 10 percent higher than the prior year, whereas the summer period was consistently in the 5 percent to 6 percent growth range.
Our new cannabis tax revenue estimates are very similar to the revenues anticipated by the Governor's Budget.
In the first half of 2024-25, preliminary revenue for the firearms and ammunition excise tax was $29 million.
Upside to Governor's Budget Revenues. Driven by the stock market, recent income tax collections have been decidedly strong. Reflecting this trend, our revenue outlook continues to improve and now suggests there is upside potential relative to the revenues assumed in the Governor’s Budget. Whether or not the stock market surge underpinning these revenue gains is sustainable is impossible to say, but several hallmarks of prior unsustainable stock market booms appear present today.
As part of building the state budget each year, the Legislature and Governor must make an assumption about how much revenue the state will collect. Because no one knows how much revenue the state will collect next year, leaders must rely on revenue forecasts. Both our office and the Department of Finance (DOF) provide periodic revenue forecasts that can be used for this purpose. These forecasts use the best available data to provide informed estimates of future revenue collections. Although they have limitations, they are important to the state budget process because they offer an objective foundation on which the budget can be built. In this post, we offer guidelines to help make the best use of these revenue forecasts—that is, to help them focus on the right questions, avoid overreactions, and be better positioned for the unexpected.
Our new forecast for 2024-25 cannabis tax revenue is $653 million, somewhat lower than the May Revision forecast of $695 million.
Our new cannabis tax revenue estimates are similar to the revenues anticipated by the 2024-25 budget package.
Our new forecast for 2023-24 cannabis excise tax revenue is $649 million, slightly below the May Revision forecast of $665 million.
Our new forecast for 2023-24 cannabis retail excise tax revenue is $675 million, very close to the January Governor’s Budget forecast of $660 million.
In the first few weeks of January, real-time personal income tax (PIT) revenue collections are running $3 billion to $4 billion short of the January target for current year revenue projections included in the 2024-25 Governor's Budget.
Our new forecast for 2023-24 cannabis retail excise tax revenue: $702 million. This is $206 million above the budget package assumption.
The 2023-24 budget package anticipated a funding shortfall for programs supported by cannabis tax revenues. Our new revenue estimates are higher, yielding a smaller funding shortfall.
The May Revision anticipates a funding shortfall for programs supported by cannabis tax revenues. Our new revenue estimates are slightly higher, yielding a slightly smaller funding shortfall. Specifically, our estimate for 2022-23 cannabis retail excise tax revenue is $509 million. This is $24 million above the administration’s May Revision estimate but $133 million below the January Governor’s Budget estimate.
Based on the most recent revenue and economic data, we currently estimate that collections from the state’s “big three” taxes—personal income, sales, and corporation taxes—are likely to fall below the Governor's Budget assumption of $200 billion in 2022-23.