Comptroller Glenn Hegar has announced that state sales tax revenue in February totaled $2.3 billion, down 6.8 percent compared to February 2015.
“Last month’s decrease in sales tax collections as compared to February 2015 was expected with the continued contraction in both the manufacturing and oil industries,” Hegar said. “It should be pointed out that in the coming months we expect comparisons to last year’s collections to be more favorable, because collections in the last half of fiscal 2015 didn’t grow as fast the first half.”
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in February 2016 is down 4 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Sales tax revenue is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 56 percent of all tax collections. Motor vehicle sales and rental taxes, motor fuel taxes and oil and natural gas production taxes also are large revenue streams for the state. Below are total collections from those taxes in February 2016:
- motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $372.2 million, up 5.2 percent from February 2015.
- motor fuel taxes — $286.5 million, up 1 percent from February 2015.
- oil and natural gas production taxes — $111.1 million, down 62.2 percent from February 2015.
For details on all monthly collections, visit the Comptroller’s Monthly State Revenue Watch.