TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE PROVIDES ANALYSIS OF
DECEMBER 2006 COLLECTIONS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - December 2006 collections of the Tennessee Department of Revenue were $919,737,497, an increase of $108,983,234 or 13.4 percent over December 2005 collections.

Sales and use tax collections were $537,361,366, up $14,089,915 or 2.7 percent over December 2005 collections. The retail trade group was up 5.2 percent over collections from last year. Contributing to the rise were auto dealers and service stations (up 10.6 percent), general merchandise stores (up 5.9 percent), eating and drinking places (up 7.1 percent), and miscellaneous retail stores (up 6.3 percent). Sales tax receipts from the services group were up 5.6 percent with increases by hotels and lodging places (up 12.5 percent) and automotive repair, service and parking establishments (up 9.8 percent) leading the group. Collections from the non-retail, non-services group were down 6.5 percent where decreases in transportation (down 67.6 percent), and communications (down 6.5 percent) were partially offset by increased collections in the manufacturing sector (up 5.8 percent). Consumer use tax collections were down 41.3 percent from collections in December 2005.

Franchise and excise tax collections were $220,397,413, up $84,396,481 or 62.1 percent when compared to December 2005 collections. Separately, franchise tax collections were $45,755,772, down $7,419,226 or 14 percent from last year. Excise tax collections were $174,641,641, up $91,815,708 or 110.9 percent over December 2005 collections.

Gasoline tax collections were $53,999,688, an 11.2 percent or $5,419,608 gain over collections in the same period last year.

Inheritance, estate and gift tax collections were $7,598,895, an increase of $4,256,275 or 127.3 percent over collections in December 2005.

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

Tobacco tax collections were $10,714,543, an increase of $1,153,235 or 12.1 percent over December 2005 collections.

Motor vehicle fuel collections decreased $4,556,147 or 29.3 percent from last December's collections to $11,005,008.

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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