Net Minnesota tax collections were $3.518 billion in November and December, up 6.4 percent from officials' projections last month, the Minnesota Management and Budget Office (MMB) reported Monday.
The fiscal news also included an improved economic outlook for the nation, largely because of lower gasoline prices and higher consumer confidence and spending, MMB reported.
Revenues collected from individual and corporate income taxes, sales tax receipts, and other miscellaneous revenues exceeded expectations for the month, officials said Monday.
"The individual income tax provided the largest amount of additional revenue, but much of this is believed to be due to timing of payments, rather than additional tax liability," the report said.
The economic outlook for the U.S. since the last forecast released in December rose in large part because the economy performed better than expected in the last quarter of 2014.
"Since that time, more recent data on job growth, hours, and retail sales have exceeded expectations, industrial production has boomed, and gasoline prices continued to move lower dipping below $2.25 per gallon in early January for the first time in nearly six years," MMB said. "Plummeting gas prices are freeing up household cash for other purposes and boosting confidence"
For fiscal year 2015, tax collections are at $9.5 billion, up 2.3 percent from a November projection.
