Posted on: Wednesday, April 11, 2001

State tax revenues ahead of previous fiscal year by $155 million

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief

State tax collections continued on a roll last month, with the state on course to collect 7 percent more in taxes this year than last year.

That is slightly ahead of the forecast by the state Council on Revenues, a panel of economists tasked with predicting the state's tax take each year. The council predicted state tax collections would grow by 6 percent in the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Nine months into the state fiscal year that began July 1, 2000, the state had collected more than $2.3 billion, or $155 million more than had been collected by the end of March last year, according to the latest report on state tax collections.

State Tax Director Marie Okamura said tax collections would have been slightly higher, but the end of March fell on a weekend. That means businesses that normally are required to pay excise taxes at the end of the month were allowed to pay the following Monday, which pushed some of March's tax take into April.

The general excise tax, which is generally regarded as a good indicator of Hawai'i's overall economy, has grown by almost 8 percent so far this fiscal year, according to statistics released by the state Tax Department.

Hotel tax collections also grew by about 6.5 percent so far this fiscal year, while income tax collections have grown by 4.4 percent.