State sales tax revenue totaled $3.1 billion in September

AUSTIN — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales tax revenue totaled $3.15 billion in September, 22.3 percent more than in September 2020. The majority of September sales tax revenue is based on sales made in August and remitted to the agency in September.

Year-over-year increases for most tax revenues continue to be affected by base effects: Year-ago revenue collections to which this year’s collections are compared were suppressed by the pandemic. Compared to September 2019, sales tax collections were up 14.8 percent.

“September state sales tax collections rebounded sharply above last year’s pandemic-depressed level while strongly surpassing pre-pandemic levels as well,” Hegar said. “Tax receipts from all major economic sectors were up by double-digit percentages from a year ago, indicating vigorous spending by both businesses and consumers.

“Despite continuing shortages of building materials, chemicals, semiconductors and other critical inputs due to weather and pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions, receipts from the construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade sectors rose sharply. Collections from the oil- and gas-mining sector almost doubled from a year ago, as drilling activity continued to rise while still remaining substantially below pre-pandemic levels.

“Within the retail trade sector, rapid growth continued in receipts from big-box retailers, which grew strongly during last year’s shut-down period, while receipts from mall-based department stores grew moderately. Among more specialized retailers, the fastest growth in receipts was from clothing stores and electronics and appliance stores, as has been the case in recent months. Receipts from online general merchandisers continued to grow moderately from last year’s elevated levels. As a portion of alcoholic beverage consumption has shifted back to on-premise consumption at bars and restaurants since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, receipts from food and beverage stores have ceased to grow, though they remain above pre-pandemic levels.”

Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in September 2021 was up 17.8 percent compared to the same period a year ago, and 14.9 percent compared to 2019. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 59 percent of all tax collections.

Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes, most of which were up sharply from a year ago due to base effects:

• motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $547 million, up 21 percent from September 2020, and up 26 percent from September 2019;
• motor fuel taxes — $321 million, up 9 percent from September 2020, and down 1 percent from September 2019;
• oil production tax — $392 million, up 72 percent from September 2020, and up 17 percent from September 2019;
• natural gas production tax — $252 million, the highest monthly amount since October 2008, up 255 percent from September 2020, and up 155 percent from September 2019;
• hotel occupancy tax — $51 million, up 50 percent from September 2020, and down 5 percent from September 2019; and
• alcoholic beverage taxes — $122 million, up 56 percent from September 2020, and up 4 percent from September 2019.