The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) recently released its December 2025 revenue report, which showed a mixed picture regarding Illinois’ tax revenue.
In December, two key tax revenue streams showed increases from corresponding revenue numbers for the comparable year-earlier period. Personal income tax revenues were up by $271 million in December 2025, an 8.9% increase from December 2024, while sales tax revenues were up by $142 million (+13.0%), signaling relatively healthy December 2025 Christmas retail sales. Although other State revenue sources, especially corporate income tax payments and federal aid payments to Illinois, showed sharp decreases in December 2025, overall general funds money was up by $239 million from December 2024 to December 2025.
The December 2025 numbers were not directly comparable with the numbers posted in December 2024, however, because of the effects on State revenues created by the shifts in weekends and weekdays from year to year. The December 2025 monthly revenue numbers reflected economic activity of two additional cash-flow days compared with the prior year. The cash flows for January 2026 may not be as favorable as these December 2025 numbers.