State sales tax revenue, like most Texans, was disrupted when it came to collection due to the winter storms that paralyzed much of the state.
Most of February sales tax revenue is made on sales made in January and remitted to the state in February. But due to the weather, the Feb. 22 due date for state taxes to be paid by business filers was extended by a week.
The end result was a decline over last year, no matter how you sliced it.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said state sales tax revenue totaled $2.51 billion in February, 13.3 percent less than in February 2020; however, after adjusting the February totals to account for the extra time until March 1, February sales tax revenue totaled $2.68 billion, down 7.5 percent from February 2020.
“The pattern in sales tax collections we’ve seen for the past several months continued, with receipts from the retail trade sector showing gains over the prior year while receipts from oil- and gas-related sectors show deep declines,” Hegar said. “Receipts from the service sector, as well as from restaurants and bars, also remain down significantly as many of these businesses had occupancy restrictions or were required to be shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Problems continued in the state’s oil and gas sector, as well as construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade and equipment leasing, Hegar said.
“Much of the sales in these sectors are tied to oil and gas drilling activity, which has picked up some since the downturn last spring but remains well below what it was a year ago,” he added.
Once again, unusual activity due to the pandemic and various shutdowns, lockdowns and slowdown showed online, sporting goods, furniture and home improvement retailers “continue to be elevated, a trend apparent since the start of the pandemic as Texans spend more time at home,” he said.
Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes, some of which also were affected by the extension of the Feb. 22 deadline:
>> motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $370 million, down 13.8 percent from February 2020, but after accounting for March 1 activity, total collections were $371 million, down 13.6 percent from February 2020.
>> motor fuel taxes — $286 million, down 5.2 percent from February 2020.
>> oil production tax — $291 million, down 21.8 percent from February 2020.
>> natural gas production tax — $113 million, down 17.1 percent from February 2020, but after accounting for March 1 activity, total collections were $114 million, down 15.7 percent from February 2020.
>> hotel occupancy tax — $25 million, down 51.4 percent from February 2020, but after accounting for March 1 activity, total collections were $27 million, down 46.3 percent from February 2020.
>> alcoholic beverage taxes — $70 million, down 36.5 percent from February 2020, but after accounting for March 1 activity, total collections were $84 million, down 24.2 percent from last year.
