Texas ended 2019 with record sales tax revenues as collections for December exceeded $3 billion, a 4.8% rise over the same month last year.
Although the numbers are reported for December, they actually represent sales in the month of November, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar said.
“Growth in state sales tax revenue was led by receipts from the construction, information services and restaurant sectors,” Hegar said. “While revenue growth was slightly buoyed by collections from remote sellers and online marketplace providers, collections from retail trade were depressed due to significantly fewer Christmas shopping days in November this year compared to the previous year.”
December was the third month in 2019 in which sales tax revenues exceeded $3 billion. Collections hit that threshold for the first time in the state’s history in May and set an all-time record of $3.18 billion in November.
For the calendar year, sales tax collections were nearly $34.5 billion, a 5.5% increase over calendar 2018. Texas’ fiscal year runs from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31.
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in December was up 6% compared to the same period a year ago.
Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 57% of all tax collections in a state that has no income tax.
Weakness in the energy sector has had only a minor impact on state collections. Natural gas production taxes fell nearly 34% to $114 million, but oil production taxes were up 18% to $362.5 million. Many producers in the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford Shale regions are flaring gas in the field rather than selling it via pipeline or truck because it is unprofitable to market.
Taxes on motor fuel collected at the pump were down slightly to $310.7 million. Taxes on motor vehicle sales and rentals were up 7.9% to $427.3 million.
