General Fund net income for March tops estimates by over $100 million
By The Star Staff
Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés Alicea announced Wednesday that the net income of the General Fund for March totaled $1.1 billion, which exceeds by $83.3 million what was collected during the same month last year, and by $101 million estimates in the Tax Plan.
Cumulative collections as of March (July to March) for fiscal year (FY) 2022 represented $510.1 million, or 7% more than what was collected in the previous fiscal year. However, the numbers show a decline in the taxes paid by foreign controlled corporations and in the medical marijuana industry.
On Jan. 27, the Financial Oversight and Management Board certified a new Revised Fiscal Plan that changed projections of economic growth and income to the treasury.
“The projections for Fiscal Year 2022, presented in the previous Fiscal Plan of April 23, 2021, estimated the net income to the General Fund at $10.2 billion. However, the projections in the new Plan add $1.1 billion to the previously estimated base, or 11.0 percent,” Parés Alicea noted. “Regarding collections in Fiscal Year 2021, the review of the Fiscal Plan changes the growth projections, from a decrease of -8.8 percent, to a growth of 1.2 percent. In other words, the revised Fiscal Plan assumes an increase from the $11.1 billion collected in fiscal 2021 to $11.3 billion for fiscal 2022.”
“The main items reviewed in the new Fiscal Plan were income from Corporate Income Tax, with an increase of $328.7 million; the collections from the Sales and Use Tax (SUT), revised by $213 million; and the income of individuals, whose revision represented an additional $176.2 million,” the official highlighted. “It should be noted that none of the main income items represented a reduction in the revision of the projected income.”
During March of the current period, the tax line that presented the best performance was that of individuals. Compared to March 2021, $64 million more was received, which represented a growth of 28.5 percent.
In March, the non-resident withholding line exhibited a growth of 58.2 percent compared to March 2021. The contribution of the manufacturing sectors ($8.4 million more) and wholesale trade ($3 million more) were responsible for this growth, the agency said.
Corporate tax revenues exceeded what was collected last year by $292.5 million, or 26 percent more, compared to the accumulated period from last year.
Foreign controlled corporations, as part of the 4% tax paid under Act 154-2010, paid $198.8 million, which represented an increase of $17.6 million when compared to the same month during FY 2021 but compared to the projection contained in the Fiscal Plan, it was $44.9 million below the estimate.
For March, the amount collected in sales and use taxes exceeded the income for the same period of the previous fiscal year by $186.3 million, or 11.2%. Meanwhile, collections exceed Treasury estimates by $109.8 million, or 6.3%.
The sales and use tax component for the sales of medical marijuana continued to experience a decline. During March, some $2.2 million were received, which represents $1.1 million less than what was collected for the same date during the prior fiscal year, the 50 percent reduction being the highest in FY 2022. The accumulated collections as of March for cannabis have been reduced by $4.2 million. The sector has warned about an alleged market saturation as a determining factor for this performance.