State revenues totaled $6.4 billion in March, controller reports

State Controller John Chiang said Friday that revenues for March totaled $6.4 billion, surpassing estimates in the 2014-15 governor’s budget by $470.9 million, or 7.9%.

In his monthly report covering California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements, Chiang said income taxes, corporate taxes and sales taxes received by the state last month were all above estimates.

“As employment in California nears its pre-recession peak, the state is seeing positive gains in many of its primary revenue sources,” he said. “As we enter the important month of April, all eyes will be on the state’s income tax receipts and whether they size up against budget estimates.”

Last week, the controller launched a new tax tracker site logging deposits from the state’s major taxes through the end of April. The site is updated multiple times a day, using the latest figures available from tax collection agencies.

March income tax receipts exceeded the latest expectations by $231.6 million, or 8.6%. Corporate tax receipts came in ahead of estimates by $130.6 million, or 9.5%. Sales and use taxes were $22.4 million, or 1.4%, above expectations in the governor’s 2014-15 proposed budget.

The state ended the month of March with a General Fund cash deficit of $16.7 billion, which was covered with both internal and external borrowing. That figure was up from last year, when the state faced a cash deficit of $15.2 billion at the end of March 2013.