Kansas tax revenue, August 2021

For August 2021, Kansas tax revenue was 15.7 percent greater than August 2020. There are important caveats to consider.

Tax reports from the State of Kansas for August 2021 show tax revenues rising from the previous month and also greater than the same month the prior year. Comparing August 2021 with August 2020 needs to consider that the income tax deadline for 2020 was changed from April to July. That boosted July 2020 tax collections far above its usual trend, and some of that revenue might have trickled in during August 2020/

When reporting on Kansas tax collections, comparison is usually to the estimated tax collections. Those estimates are revised based on economic conditions affected by the response to the pandemic. To get a feel for the effects of the response to the pandemic, we should compare to the same month the prior year. But with shifting tax deadlines, these comparisons are difficult.

(The estimated revenue figures are still important because the state bases the budget on them. If the actual revenue is much below the estimated revenue, there may not be enough income to pay expenses.)

For August 2021, individual income tax collections were $302.3 million, up by 11.6 percent from the prior August. Retail sales tax collections rose by 9.4 percent to $226.5 million from August 2020. Total tax collections were $629.0 million, up 15.7 percent from August 2020. A nearby table summarizes. (Click charts and tables for larger versions.)

For fiscal year 2022, which started on July 1, 2021, total tax collections are lower by 19.2 percent over the same period of the previous fiscal year. By far, the largest reason for this decline is the change in tax deadlines from April 2020 to July 2020. For this year, the tax deadline was in April.

My interactive visualization of Kansas tax revenue has been updated with this data. Click here to use it.

The press release for this data is at Kansas’ Total Tax Revenues $85.5 Million Over Last August. The report from Kansas Legislative Research Department is at State General Fund (SGF) Receipts, FY 2022, July-August 2021.