Indiana officials say timing issues explain big miss in April's state revenue target

Indiana missed its state budget revenue target by more than $200 million in April. But state officials explain away the miss as a timing issue that shouldn’t affect the overall state revenue picture.

Monthly tax collections have fallen short of the state budget plan for three consecutive months. And with just a couple months left in the current fiscal year, state revenues are just off where the budget anticipated they’d be, about $41 million.

The biggest driver of April’s miss is individual income taxes. And officials said that’s because of state and federal laws that have changed the way Indiana collects taxes.

READ MORE: Where does Indiana state budget funding come from?
 

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Rep. Greg Porter (D-Indianapolis) said the state last year aligned its tax laws with the 2017 federal tax cut package. That’s meant tax deductions for businesses have seen a lot of money coming to the state early, then going back to those companies, throwing off the monthly results.

He said there’s still time for the state to ultimately meet its revenue target.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.