FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
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Gov. Justice cuts everyone's income tax by 21.25%, $750 million, and state still shows surplus revenue numbers for July
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CHARLESTON, WV — Gov. Jim Justice announced today that West Virginia’s General Revenue collections for July 2023, the first month of Fiscal Year 2024, came in at a very respectable $7.7 million above estimates with total collections of $335 million.
“Although our surplus this month isn’t as high as we’ve seen in the past, what this proves is that we’ve been minding the store properly by keeping our base budget flat,” Gov. Justice said. “We had phenomenal surpluses last year, and I strongly believe we are going to have a strong surplus this year too, despite the effects of Bidenomics at work with runaway inflation eating into West Virginians' pockets. It’s the perfect time to mind the store properly, which is what West Virginians elected me to do and I have done.
"July is consistently our slowest month of the year for collections. Despite widespread calls to significantly increase our base spending budget, similar to what West Virginia has done repeatedly in the past decades, I refused to listen to this nonsense and we chose to maintain a flat budget. This decision ensures that we won't encounter the same budget shortfalls currently being experienced by states like California and New York."
Personal Income Tax collections for July were $13.9 million above estimate with collections of $145.6 million.
Corporation Net Income Tax collections of $19 million were $8.5 million above estimate and 31.7% ahead of last year.
The other major sources of General Revenue for July included Consumer Sales Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, and Tobacco Products Excise Tax. The State collected $93.6 million in Consumer Sales Tax, $25.5 million in Insurance Premium Tax revenues, and $13.7 million in Tobacco Products Excise Tax.
Due to a considerable drop in coal and natural gas prices, severance tax income for the month predictably decreased.
For more detailed information, you can access the monthly revenue and cash flow reports from the West Virginia State Budget Office by clicking here.
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