P.R. Treasury Dept. reports $883M in General Fund collections in September
Net revenues to the General Fund totaled $833 million in September 2018, which Puerto Rico Treasury Secretary Teresita Fuentes said represents a new historical revenue level for a month of September.
“The previous highest level was for September 2005 when revenues totaled $778.7 million. In 2017, September revenues totaled $627.6 million and were affected by the passage of Hurricanes Irma and María; therefore, the two periods are not totally comparable,” she said.
“Revenues were $129.5 million above projections. The Treasury Department prepares said monthly projection by adjusting total revenues projected for the current fiscal year in the Fiscal Plan certified on June 29, 2018, including seasonal adjustments, as well as adjustments for non-recurring revenues,” she explained.
The main revenue driver for the month was the corporate income tax category with $250.2 million.
“One of the estimated corporate tax payments was due in September. Collections were the highest for a month of September since 2013, and above projections by $65.5 million. In addition, the motor vehicle category continued performing well with collections that totaled $35.5 million and were $11.8 million above projections,” Fuentes said.
The 10.5 percent Sales and Use Tax collections totaled $222.0 million in September with $116.3 million that went to the Sales Tax Financing Corp. (known as COFINA in Spanish) and $95.2 million to the General Fund. In addition, $10.6 million, corresponding to the 0.5 percent, went to the municipalities.
Meanwhile, the agency confirmed that net revenues to the General Fund for the first quarter of Fiscal 2019 totaled $2.2 billion. The amount exceeds year-over-year revenues and projections by $358.6 million and $330.8 million, respectively, Fuentes said.
Revenues for each of the three months fiscal year to date have exceeded both year-over-year revenues and projections. These positive revenue results in the second quarter are attributed, for the most part, to the economic effects of Puerto Rico’s recovery after the passage of the hurricanes last year, Fuentes indicated.
