State tax collections continued to exceed expectations for the month of February.
According to a news release from the office of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, total tax collections for the month came in at $502.5 million. The total exceeded original estimates by 3.9 percent — $18.7 million — and were just over 10 percent — $46.6 million — higher than collections in February of 2021.
Individual income tax collections were $183.4 million which was 3.5 percent below estimates, however, the Governor’s office noted that this is likely due to income tax refunds being issued sooner than in previous years. According to the aforementioned news release, 15,000 more refunds were sent out last month than in February of 2021 totaling more than $21 million compared to this time last year.
Corporate income tax collections were $23.4 million, 112.8 percent higher than estimates while retail sales tax collections totaled $195.2 million, 2.8 percent higher than original estimates. Compensating use tax collections topped estimates by eight percent totaling $59.4 million.
With the continued financial gains, Governor Kelly again pushed for legislation to eliminate the state’s tax on food saying, “I urge the Legislature to work together to send me a clean bill eliminating the state’s tax on food immediately so that we can put this money back into the pockets of Kansas taxpayers.”
