State Tax Revenues Come In Much As Expected In August

State tax receipts last month closely matched estimates generated for the current biennial budget period and kept state coffers on track for Fiscal Year 2016.  And despite a raft of tax cuts included in the budget measure (HB 64*), the $1.881 billion in total tax receipts collected in August was almost $222 million, or 13.4%, better than August 2014, according to preliminary revenue charts distributed Friday by the Office of Budget and Management.  Compared to budget planning estimates, the August tax receipts were ahead of schedule by 0.3%, the budget agency reported. The year-to-date difference is 0.4% to the good.  The strongest performances last month came in the two main tax categories.  The $849 million in total sales taxes was almost $36 million, or 4.4%, better than anticipated, OBM reported. The $628 million in personal income tax receipts beat estimates by $16 million or 2.6%.  Those overages were offset mostly by underperformance in the commercial activity tax and tobacco tax categories, both of which lagged projections by about $24 million.  Compared to August of 2014, the PIT intake was better by $54.2 million (9.5%), and the commercial activity tax by $64.75 million (36.5%)  according to state data.  Thanks largely to the August differentials, total tax receipts after the first two months of FY 2016, at $3.55 billion, stand at $306 million, or 9.4%, ahead of the same FY 2015 period.