February 5th, 2023 by WCBC Radio

CHARLESTON, WV — Gov. Jim Justice announced today that West Virginia’s General Revenue collections for January 2023 are $162.2 million above estimates and 8.5% ahead of prior year receipts. Year-to-date record collections are $995 million above estimate. 

"Without any question in the world, our continued revenue surpluses prove that we can very safely and conservatively move forward with a 50% tax cut in the state of West Virginia, especially if we do it wisely, and we do it over three years and phase it in,” Gov. Justice said. “So this is our opportunity to do something for hard-working West Virginians and put money back in their pockets.”

The following is a brief summary of the major components:

January General Revenue Fund Severance Tax collections totaled $90.3 million versus $81.9 million in January of last year. Monthly collections exceeded the official estimate by $64.3 million. Record year-to-date general revenue fund severance tax collections of $631.2 million were 87.8% ahead of last year and $497.8 million above estimate. The Severance Tax accounted for 50% of the total year-to-date revenue surplus. Overall collections were nearly double last year largely due to higher energy prices.

January Personal Income Tax collections totaled $305.3 million. Collections exceeded the monthly estimate by $51.4 million and prior year receipts by 5.5%. Record year-to-date collections of nearly $1.483 billion were $181.6 million above the official estimate and 11.8% ahead of prior year receipts.

Corporation Net Income Tax collections totaled $18.2 million in January. Monthly collections were $14.2 million above estimate. Year-to-date collections of $211.4 million were $123.4 million above the official estimate and 16.3% ahead of prior year-to-date collections.

Consumer Sales Tax collections of $153.5 million were nearly $17.3 million above estimate in January and 2.8% ahead of prior January collections. Cumulative collections of more than $986.2 million were $121.7 million above the official estimate and 5.3% ahead of last year.

Click here to read monthly revenue and cash flow reports from the West Virginia State Budget Office.