Gov’t revenue collections for February beat forecast by $110.4M
Net income to Puerto Rico’s General Fund shored up in February, the eighth month of the fiscal year, totaled $714.8 million, Treasury Department Secretary Francisco Parés confirmed.
The official added that collections accrued through February totaled $6.8 billion, or $122.5 million more than the same period in fiscal year 2020, when collections reached $6.6 billion. This represents an increase of 1.8% between the two periods, he said.
“We continue to observe since last November and in a consistent way, how this fiscal year’s collections continue to exceed month by month the numbers of fiscal year 2020,” he said.
February collections surpassed the fiscal forecast by $110.4 million, or 5%, Parés confirmed.
“From July to February collections are $1 billion over the fiscal estimate, or 21.2%,” Parés said, noting that based on this, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico and the Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (AAFAF, in Spanish) are reviewing revisions to the Fiscal Plan.
The Board will present its revised Fiscal Plan on April 23, which “will represent changes to the projection of the current fiscal period and the projections in the short and medium term,” said Parés.
February net income reached $714.8 million, while collections during the same period in 2020 totaled $670.8 million. The boost came from taxes on consumption so far this fiscal year, such as the Sales and Use Tax ($227.5 million), motor vehicle taxes ($48.3 million), federal tax refund on rum shipments ($29.6 million), and taxes on alcoholic beverages ($17 million).
“Regarding the income tax, February collections show mixed signals. The corporate and partnership sectors exceeded February 2020 collections by $4.6 million and $4.8 million, respectively,” he said.
He explained that individual income, which since November had reflected growth compared to last year, did not reach the figures they reported in February 2020. However, an evaluation of the performance showed that they exceed by $68.7 million what was collected during the same period in 2020, or 5.3%.
“Regarding the tax of foreign entities under Law 154-2010, what was collected in February exceeded the amount collected last fiscal year by $4.1 million. This sector reflects a lag with respect to the behavior of fiscal year 2020 of $81 million, or 8% less,” Parés said.
Parés, who is also the government’s Chief Financial Officer, said to be focused on several goals, such as informing taxpayers on additional benefits this year’s tax return, including an additional 3% in tax rates, the opportunity to claim federal incentives of $1,200 and $600, the American Opportunity credit — authorized for retroactive claim from 2018 to 2020 — and the Work Credit.
