State sales tax revenue totals $3 billion in January

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Feb. 4 said state sales tax revenue totaled $3.08 billion in January, 8.9% more than in January 2019.

“Growth in state sales tax revenue was led by receipts from the retail trade and information services sectors, while receipts from oil- and gas-mining were down from a year ago,” Hegar said. “January retail trade sector collections were higher than a year ago in part because more Christmas shopping days fell in December. Collections also were slightly boosted by marketplace providers and remote sellers, who first began collecting Texas sales taxes in October.”

The majority of January sales tax revenue is based on sales made in December and remitted to the agency in January. Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in January 2020 was up 6.6% 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 January 2020, Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes:

motor vehicle sales and rental taxes – $471.0 million, up 10.6% from January 2019; motor fuel taxes – $308.9 million, up 1.3% from January 2019; natural gas production taxes – $131.0 million, down 14.4% from January 2019; and oil production taxes – $395.7 million, up 44.1% from January 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 the updated Sources of Revenue publication.