TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE PROVIDES ANALYSIS OF
JULY 2006 COLLECTIONS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - July 2006 collections of the Tennessee Department of Revenue were $834,468,361, an increase of $35,463,921 or 4.4 percent over July 2005 collections.

Sales and use tax collections were $591,196,781, up $39,506,328 or 7.2 percent over July 2005 collections. The retail trade group was up 1.6 percent over last year's collections. Building materials stores (up 8.5%), general merchandise stores (up 3.4%), furniture stores (up 7.4%), and food stores (up 2.6%) contributed to the increase in collections for the retail sector. Collections from auto dealers and service stations (down 3.3%) offset some of the gains. Sales tax receipts from the services group were up 3.5 percent, with increased collections in business services (up 6.3%) leading the group. Collections from the non-retail, non-services group were up 8.9 percent, with increases in the wholesale trade (up 12.8%), communications (up 6.5%), electricity, gas and sanitary services (up13.8%), and transportation (up 58.2%) sectors accounting for large increases. Consumer use tax collections were up 31.3 percent over July 2005 collections.

Franchise and excise tax collections were $59,687,496, down $17,700,966 or 22.9 percent when compared to July 2005 collections. Separately, franchise tax collections were $26,666,743, down $5,495,427 or 17.1 percent from last year. Excise tax collections were $33,020,753, down $12,205,539 or 27.0 percent from July 2005 collections.

Inheritance, gift and estate tax collections increased $3,793,673 or 119.3 percent over last year's collections to $6,972,716.

Collections from the privilege taxes were $30,375,594, an increase of $3,598,143 or 13.4 percent over collections in July 2005.

Gasoline tax collections increased $2,335,218 or 4.6 percent over collections in the same period last year to $53,455,288.

Motor vehicle registrations were $21,289,198, surpassing last year's collections by $1,794,399 or 9.2 percent.

Business tax collections were $1,573,527, a decrease of $1,653,152 or 51.2 percent from July 2005 collections.

The Department of Revenue is responsible for the administration of state tax laws and motor vehicle title and registration laws established by the legislature and the collection of taxes and fees associated with those laws. The Department of Revenue collects approximately 92 percent of total state tax revenue. During the 2005-2006 fiscal year, the department collected $10.3 billion in state taxes and fees. In addition to collecting state taxes, $1.8 billion of local sales tax was collected by the department for local governments during the 2005-2006 fiscal year. Besides collecting taxes, the department enforces the revenue laws fairly and impartially in an effort to encourage voluntary taxpayer compliance. The department also apportions revenue collections for distribution to the various state funds and local units of government. To learn more about the department, log on to www.Tennessee.gov/revenue.

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