The numbers, which reflect State tax revenue intake, were published in the “Monthly Briefing” published by the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) as tracking of State revenues in January 2024. Although the U.S. economy continues to be strong nationwide, payment of income tax to the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) dropped significantly in January 2024. Relative to the prior year, personal income taxes paid to IDOR were down $52 million from the previous year, and corporate income tax payments were down $15 million, creating a total income tax shortfall of $67 million.
Although State sales tax receipts rose $16 million during the same period, the income tax shortfall was decisive in producing overall negative revenue trend numbers for January. Across all general funds tax lines, State of Illinois January 2024 revenues were down $22 million from the year-earlier month. This cash flow number marks what could be a significant negative turnaround from the generally positive numbers chalked up by IDOR during the first half of FY24. During this period, Illinois income tax revenues and overall tax revenues posted a series of numbers that were able to keep up (just barely) with the swelling spend rates of the State as authorized by the Democrats’ FY24 State of Illinois Budget.