Massachusetts took in an additional $1.9 billion in taxes in last fiscal year

State tax collections will need to grow by less than 1 percent in fiscal 2020 to hit the benchmark lawmakers included in the $43.1 billion budget that Governor Charlie Baker is reviewing.

The Department of Revenue on Monday reported that final fiscal 2019 tax collections totaled $29.69 billion, only $200 million less than the upwardly revised $29.89 billion estimate that lawmakers used in the fiscal 2020 budget they approved last week.

Tax receipts of $3.18 billion in June were up by only 1.5 percent over June 2018 collections, but capped a fiscal year during which collections rose nearly 7 percent and eclipsed budget benchmarks by $1.1 billion.

Capital gains taxes drove up non-withheld income tax revenues by $387 million over benchmark, according to Revenue Commissioner Christopher Harding, while corporate taxes soared $566 million over benchmark last fiscal year and estate tax collections beat benchmark by $151 million. Harding described all three revenue categories as volatile revenue sources that broke in a “positive direction” in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/07/29/massachusetts-took-additional-billion-taxes-last-fiscal-year/CID5nmzeR9RCI70uKlsPkO/story.html