TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE PROVIDES ANALYSIS OF
MARCH 2007 COLLECTIONS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -The March 2007 collections of the Tennessee Department of Revenue were $904,925,872, an increase of $140,346,618 or 18.4 percent over March 2006 collections.

Sales and use tax collections were $510,013,448, up $27,425,827 or 5.7 percent over March 2006 collections. The retail trade group was up 6.7 percent over collections from last year. Contributing to the rise were auto dealers and service stations (up 9.9%), general merchandise stores (up 7.8%), furniture stores (up 18.1%), eating and drinking places (up 6.7%), and miscellaneous retail stores (up 6.7%). Sales tax receipts from the services group were up 3.3 percent with increases by automotive repair and parking services (up 6.2%) leading the group. Collections from the non-retail, non-services group were up 7.7 percent where increases in communications (up 10.5%), wholesale trade (up12.3%), and electric gas and sanitary services (up 11.4%) were partially offset by decreased collections in the manufacturing sector (down 4.7%). Consumer use tax collections were down 57.0 percent from collections in March 2006.

Franchise and excise tax collections were $213,063,326, up $90,145,792 or 73.3 percent when compared to March 2006 collections. Separately, franchise tax collections were $76,928,328, up $31,064,008 or 67.7 percent over last year. Excise tax collections were $136,134,998, up $59,081,783 or 76.7 percent over March 2006 collections.

Tobacco tax collections were $16,738,727, an increase of $5,790,450 or 52.9 percent over March 2006 collections.

Gasoline tax collections were $45,721,026, a 9.7 percent or $4,050,969 gain over collections in the same period last year.

TVA in-lieu-of tax payments were $21,114,561, surpassing last year's collections by $2,770,308 or 15.1 percent.

Inheritance, estate and gift tax collections of $6,965,011 in March 2007 surpassed March 2006 collections by $2,579,027 or 58.8 percent.

Motor vehicle fuel collections increased $2,177,260 or 21.3 percent over last March's collections to $12,399,051.

Collections from the privilege taxes were $20,363,932, an increase of $1,900,146 or 10.3 percent over March collections last year.

Individual income tax collections were $14,757,771, an increase of $1,732,317 or 13.3 percent when compared to the same period one year ago.

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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