Forty-one states collected enough in tax revenues in the third quarter of 2018 to be considered recovered from the Great Recession, boosted in part by a strong economy and implementation of President Donald Trump's 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trust's Fiscal 50 project, The Hill reports.
Some of the gains could be short-lived, though, as the 2017 tax law "introduced uncertainty into state collections trends as both states and taxpayers adjusted to the federal changes," per Pew.
"The surge shows signs of fading. Growth over the last 4 quarters has been slowing," Justin Theal, a researcher at Pew and a co-author of the report, said.
Overall, the states collectively brought in 13.4% more revenue in the third quarter than they did during the pre-recession peak after adjusting for inflation, and 5.7% more in the third quarter compared with a year earlier.
The result: a turnaround year for many states that struggled through the weakest two years of growth – outside of a recession – in at least 30 years.
The largest source of total state tax revenue – personal income taxes – was up 5.5% while sales taxes also showed "strong growth" with a 4% increase, according to Pew.
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