State sales tax revenue totaled $3.37 billion in March, a 37.2% increase over collections last year Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in a Tuesday, April 4, news release.
Similar to February’s sales tax numbers, the March 2021 totals account for February 2021 sales tax returns not collected until March because of Winter Storm Uri.
“State sales tax collections reached a new high for the month of March, with exceptionally strong growth evident across all major economic sectors,” Hegar said.
Consuming spending increased as the effects of the omicron variant dissipated, said Hegar, adding that strong employment and wage growth are also contributing factors. He said segments stimulated by pandemic-related spending patterns, such as online merchandisers, home improvement stores and sporting goods retailers, continue to have strong growth.
The news release included information relating to taxes collected from certain economic sectors. With the exception of motor vehicle sales and vehicle taxes, the highlighted sectors all had double digit growth or greater.
Motor vehicle sales and rental taxes brought in $386 million, a 17% decrease from March 2021. Motor fuel taxes also saw a 19% increase compared to March 2021.
Both oil and natural gas production revenues more than doubled from their March 2021 totals.
Oil production taxes totaled $476 million, a 101% increase, and natural gas production tax revenues were $348 million, a 150% increase.
Additionally, hotel occupancy taxes brought in $50 million to the state, a 55% increase from March 2021. Alcoholic beverage taxes totaled $123 million, a 27% increase.
“Growth in receipts from sectors driven by business spending, including oil and gas mining, construction, manufacturing and wholesale trade, also continues to be robust, though receipts from oil and gas mining still remain well below pre-pandemic levels despite the elevated energy prices of recent months.”
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in March 2022, after adjusting for March 2021 activity, was up 27.3% compared to the same period a year ago. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 59% of all tax collections.
The majority of March sales tax revenue is based on sales made in February and remitted to the agency in March.