December 1, 2020

State Sales Tax Revenue Totaled Nearly $3 Billion in November

(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales tax revenue totaled $2.98 billion in November, 6.3 percent less than in November 2019.

The majority of November sales tax revenue is based on sales made in October and remitted to the agency in November.

“November state sales tax collections continued the trends of recent months, with receipts down from a year ago in all major economic sectors other than retail trade,” Hegar said. “Increased collections from retail trade reflected continued heightened spending for home improvements in response to the pandemic.

“The steepest declines were again in oil- and gas-related sectors because well drilling and well completion remain depressed. Receipts from the information sector were also notably down due to the federal ban on sales taxation of internet access service.

“With sales tax collection responsibility for online marketplaces and remote sellers now in place for more than a year, increased collections from online vendors reflected the pandemic-accelerated market share shift from in-store to online shopping. Receipts from restaurants remained down from last year, but significantly higher than in the early days of the pandemic, as restrictions have eased on in-person dining and consumers continue to embrace pick-up and delivery restaurant service.”

Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in November 2020 was down 5.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 59 percent of all tax collections. While the effects of the COVID-related economic slowdown are less prominent than they were earlier this year, they continued to be evident in some sources of revenue in November 2020.

Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes:

• motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $414 million, down 1.9 percent from November 2019;
• motor fuel taxes — $325 million, down 0.6 percent from November 2019;
• oil production tax — $199 million, down 42.2 percent from November 2019;
• natural gas production tax — $76 million, down 36.3 percent from November 2019;
• hotel occupancy tax — $33 million, down 46.1 percent from November 2019; and
• alcoholic beverage taxes — $96 million, down 19.1 percent from November 2019.

For details on all monthly collections, visit the Comptroller's Monthly State Revenue Watch. For an extensive history of tax policy developments and fees since 1972, visit our updated Sources of Revenue publication.