April 1, 2024

State Sales Tax Revenue Totaled $3.8 Billion in March

(AUSTIN) —Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales tax revenue totaled $3.78 billion in March, 5.8 percent more than in March 2023. The majority of March sales tax revenue is based on sales made in February and remitted to the agency in March.

“Monthly state sales tax collections solidly exceeded collections from last March,” Hegar said. “Collections from sectors that have been increasing compared with a year ago continued to show strength, and receipts from some sectors that had been lagging saw gains.

“Among sectors primarily driven by business spending, remittances from the construction sector grew dramatically, and much faster than reported construction input prices. Receipts from the manufacturing sector were up strongly after declining the previous two months, and the wholesale trade sector, which had not seen positive growth since May 2023, was up modestly. Receipts from the oil and gas mining sector were slightly up compared with a year ago.

“In the sectors driven primarily by consumer spending, remittances from live entertainment venues continued to be strong while receipts from the retail trade sector were up modestly. Among major retail sector components, the largest increase in receipts came from gasoline stations and grocery stores. Remittances from online merchants grew while receipts from general merchandise stores declined slightly, and receipts from electronics and appliance stores dipped following a large increase in February. Receipts from furniture and home furnishing stores continued to slump.

“Receipts from restaurants grew at about the same rate as inflation for food away from home.”

Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in March 2024 was up 1.1 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 57 percent of all tax collections.

Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes:

• motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $401 million, down 7 percent from March 2023;
• motor fuel taxes — $302 million, up 5 percent from March 2023;
• oil production tax — $473 million, up 11 percent from March 2023;
• natural gas production tax — $212 million, down 21 percent from March 2023;
• hotel occupancy tax — $64 million, up 5 percent from March 2023; and
• alcoholic beverage taxes — $140 million, up 2 percent from March 2023.

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.