Mass. Tax Revenues Drop $409M

State revenue officials say January tax collections were $409 million lower than the same month last year due to a steep decline in income tax payments.

The Department of Revenue announced Wednesday that income tax payments, which include capital gains taxes, fell almost 36 percent last month. The $554 million in payments was also $1 million below revised benchmarks set by Gov. Deval Patrick's administration on Jan. 13.

Total tax collections, however, were $25 million above the revised estimates.

Massachusetts has seen its budget take hits from a steep drop in capital gains revenues, which are taxes on the profits from sales of assets like stocks and bonds.

Revenue Commissioner Navjeet Bal said while collections declined in every major category compared to January 2008 the collections were relatively close to the revised benchmarks.