August 2022 General Fund Revenues show moderate increase

RICHMOND, VA – On September 13, 2022, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that total revenue collections in August for the Commonwealth’s general fund grew by 13.0 percent year-over-year unadjusted. Due to August’s additional deposit day, which included payroll withholding taxes remitted by many of Virginia’s large employers, these totals exceeded forecasts. Adjusted for the additional day, revenues increased approximately 5.4 percent year-over-year.

“This report shows our purposeful efforts since day one continues to place Virginia in a strong financial position,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Virginians can be confident in our efforts to keep the Commonwealth moving forward. With that said, economic headwinds continue due to inflation-inducing policies at the federal level, and we continue to dig out from the unnecessary closures during the pandemic that crippled Virginia businesses.”

“August collections exceeded projections, driven by employment and wage growth year-over-year,” said Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings. “However, persistent inflation, rising interest rates, concerns regarding worsening economic conditions, and slowing job growth can impact future revenue collections. We continue to monitor these issues and will better indicate current trends after September month-end, including the first estimated payments for non withholding and corporate tax collections.”

For the month, payroll withholding increased by 19.8 percent (8.2 percent adjusted for the extra deposit day). Wage growth, the additional deposit day, and a strong labor market drove growth in payroll withholding. There were 142,000 more Virginians employed in July 2022 than there were in July 2021, an increase of 3.5 percent year-over-year. Virginia, however, has yet to recover more than 113,000 jobs that were lost during the pandemic (now at 97.4 percent of pre-pandemic levels) while our key competitor states have all exceeded pre-pandemic employment levels.

The full August 2022 revenue report is available here.