KDOR: Kansas revenue soars because of filers trying to beat tax reform

Homeowners flocking to pay their state and local taxes before the federal government's new tax reforms went into effect "artificially inflated" state revenues in the final month of 2017, the Kansas Dept. of Revenue says.

“This is simply a shift in the timing of tax payments,” Secretary Sam Williams said. “We truly will not know the effect of state and federal tax policy until after the filing deadline in April.”

The rush of early filers pushed state receipts $83.6 million over estimates for the fiscal year, according to KDOR numbers released Monday. Individual income tax collections are up even more, soaring to $87.1 million above projections, an overwhelming portion of which ($80.4 million) came in December alone.

Even though individual filers may have been paying estimated taxes early, corporations may be doing the opposite, waiting until after the new year to take advantage of the new cuts, KDOR said.

“This may be the reason why we see corporate income tax collections falling below estimates so far this fiscal year,” Williams said.

Even with corporate revenue falling below projections, the state is well ahead of last year's pace. Overall, the state collected $711 million, more than $100 million ahead of the previous year. Sales tax revenue is also increased more than $300,000 to $198.5 million.