State government tax collections totaled $781.8 billion in fiscal year 2008, a $24.5 billion (3.2 percent) increase from 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

     According to data from the 2008 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections, taxes on individual income were $280.7 billion, up 5.1 percent; general sales taxes were $240.6 billion, up 0.9 percent; and corporation net income taxes were $51.8 billion, down 2.5 percent. These taxes made up 73.3 percent of all state tax collections nationally.

     Severance taxes — imposed for removal of natural resources (e.g., oil, gas, coal, timber, fish, etc.) — were up $7.2 billion, or 65.3 percent, with the largest increases in the West and South. Documentary and stock transfer taxes — incurred when recording, registering or transferring documents, such as mortgages, deeds or securities — were down $2.5 billion, or 24.5 percent, with the largest decrease in the South.

     These files and tables contain annual statistics on the fiscal year tax collections of all 50 state governments, including receipts from licenses and compulsory fees. Tax revenues also include related penalty and interest receipts of the governments.

     These data do not include employer and employee assessments for retirement and social insurance purposes. Also not included are collections for the unemployment compensation taxes imposed by each of the state governments. In addition, these data include tax collections for state governments only; they do not include tax collections from local governments.

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Although the data are not subject to sampling error, the statistics are subject to possible inaccuracies in classification, response and processing. Every effort is made to keep such errors to a minimum through care in examining, editing and tabulating the data.

The tax revenue data pertain to state fiscal years that ended June 30, 2008, in all but four states. Amounts shown for these four states reflect the different timing of their respective fiscal years, which were the 12-month periods ending on March 31, 2008, for New York; Aug. 31, 2008, for Texas; and Sept. 30, 2008, for Alabama and Michigan.