Treasury collections up 42% year-over-year in January

The Treasury Department pumped $731 million into the government’s General Fund last month, or $216 million more than what the agency collected during January 2011. The 42 percent hike was fueled by income and excise taxes, Treasury Secretary Jesús Méndez said Thursday.
The month’s total income tax receipts reflected an increase of $101 million. Of that amount, individuals represented $25 million; corporations paid $14 million; and non-resident withholding taxes, another $62 million. The latter category corresponds to payments by manufacturers for the use of patents in the production process, said Méndez.
On the other hand, total excise tax collections were $229 million, of which 67 percent or $152 million, came from companies abiding by the stipulations of Law 154 that requires foreign corporations to pay a special temporary tax.
Meanwhile sales and use tax collections kept up their upward trend shown so far this fiscal year, with $121 million funneled into the General Fund in January.
Méndez said sales and use tax (known as IVU) revenue reached $90.5 million in February for an annual increase of $4.9 million, or 5.7 percent.
“This result is attributed to the positive effect of the Tax Reform, the government’s control measures and the improvement in economic activity,” Méndez said.