Gov. Nathan Deal announced that Georgia’s net tax collections for January totaled $2.2 billion, for an increase of $154.1 million, or 7.5 percent, compared to January 2016. Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled nearly $13.06 billion, for an increase of $568.4 million, or 4.6 percent, over last year, when net tax revenues totaled almost $12.49 billion.

Due to the continued threat of tax fraud, the Department of Revenue is taking action to protect taxpayer dollars and confidential taxpayer information. The implementation of a state-of-the-art fraud management system, which blocked more than $90 million in fraudulently filed refund requests in 2016, has resulted in changes in procedures and refund timing for the 2017 income tax filing season. DOR began processing 2016 individual income tax returns on Feb. 1, 2017, to allow adequate time for matching of W-2 data against received returns. Accordingly, individual income net tax revenues for January 2017 are tracking at higher levels than those of January 2016.

The changes within the following tax categories account for January’s overall net tax revenue increase:

Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for the month totaled nearly $1.27 billion, up from $1.14 billion in January 2016, for an increase of $125.5 million, or 11.0 percent.

The following notable components within Individual Income Tax combine for the net increase:

• Individual Income Tax Withholding payments were up $110.1 million, or 12.2 percent.

• Income Tax refunds, totaling $45.2 million during the month, were up $8.3 million, or 22.6 percent.

• Individual Income Tax Estimated payments increased by $14.3 million, or 6.2 percent.

• All other Individual Tax categories, including Non-Resident Return payments, were up a combined $9.4 million.

Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales Tax collections for January totaled $1.06 billion, for an increase of $33.5 million, or 3.3 percent, compared to January 2016. Net Sales and Use Tax revenue increased $11.2 million, or 2 percent, compared to last year when net sales and use totaled nearly $557.6 million. The adjusted distribution of sales tax to local governments totaled $482.6 million, which was an increase of $16.5 million, or 3.5 percent, over last year. Sales and use tax refunds increased by $5.8 million, or 117.6 percent, compared to January 2016.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections totaled $30.7 million, a decrease of $3.6 million, or -10.5 percent, compared to last year when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled nearly $34.4 million.

The following notable components within Corporate Income Tax make up the net decrease:

• Corporate Tax refunds issued (net of voids) were up roughly $0.1 million, or 5.7 percent.

• Corporate Income Tax Return payments were down $9.4 million, or -67.5 percent. 

• All other Corporate Taxes, including Corporate Estimated payments, were up a combined $5.9 million.

Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fees: Tag and Title Fee collections increased by $10 million, or 35.3 percent, compared to January 2016. Title Ad Valorem Tax collections for the month totaled $77.3 million, for a decrease of $0.5 million, or -0.7 percent, compared to last year.