HONOLULU — Hawai‘i taxpayers due refunds will be getting them sooner than expected thanks to a smaller than expected decline in tax revenues. State officials initially said there would be a delay in the release of 2009 individual, corporate and
HONOLULU — Hawai‘i taxpayers due refunds will be getting them sooner than expected thanks to a smaller than expected decline in tax revenues.
State officials initially said there would be a delay in the release of 2009 individual, corporate and fiduciary income tax refunds until July 1, the start of the next fiscal year, as a way of saving $275 million to help balance the state budget.
But Gov. Linda Lingle announced Monday that improving tax revenue collections for the first 10 months of the current fiscal year will allow the Department of Taxation to begin immediately issuing refunds that were processed during January and February.
The state Department of Taxation said actual tax collections for the first 10 months of the current fiscal year amounted to $3.4 billion, a 1 percent decline from the same 10-month period last fiscal year. In contrast, the Council on Revenues, a panel of top economists, had forecast a decline of 2.5 percent.
“The fact that the decline in actual tax collections is less than what the Council on Revenues projected is an encouraging sign,” Lingle said. “We are still cautiously monitoring expenditures and future tax collections. At this time, we believe getting refunds to taxpayers is the appropriate thing to do.”
The refunds will be processed on a first-in, first-out basis, with refunds going out this month to the earliest tax return filers.
Not counting the delayed refunds, the state collected $318.6 million in taxes in April to reach the $3.4 billion total.
General excise and use taxes, the largest single category of collections, amounted to $197.4 million in April, to boost the 10-month take to $1.9 billion, a 4.6 percent decline.
At the same time, corporate income tax collections rose 7.5 percent, the individual income tax take was up 16.9 percent and proceeds from the hotel room tax climbed 6.8 percent.
