State Sales Tax Revenue Totaled $4 Billion in October

November 1, 2024

State Sales Tax Revenue Totaled $4 Billion in October

(AUSTIN)-Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales tax revenue totaled $4.01 billion in October, 5.4 percent more than in October 2023. The majority of October sales tax revenue is based on sales made in September and remitted to the agency in October.

"Driven largely by increases in remittances from the retail sector, October sales tax collections strongly exceeded collections compared with October 2023, and overall state sales tax collections grew more than twice as fast as the rate of overall price inflation," Hegar said. "In the sectors driven most by business spending, growth from the wholesale trade and manufacturing sectors were positive by mid-single digits, while receipts from the construction and mining sectors were down.

"Among the sectors driven primarily by consumer spending, retail trade showed a gain of 5.5 percent compared with last October, representing the largest increase in that sector since April 2023. Within the retail sector, collections from online merchants, grocery stores and home improvement stores all grew significantly. The services sector was also up last month.

"Receipts from restaurants were essentially flat compared with a year ago, coming in well below the rate of inflation for food away from home."

Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in October 2024 was up 2.4 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 58 percent of all tax collections.

Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes:

• motor vehicle sales and rental taxes - $605 million, down less than 1 percent from October 2023;
• motor fuel taxes - $324 million, up 2 percent from October 2023;
• oil production tax - $436 million, down 26 percent from October 2023;
• natural gas production tax - $182 million, down 5 percent from October 2023;
• hotel occupancy tax - $65 million, down 3 percent from October 2023; and
• alcoholic beverage taxes - $147 million, down 4 percent from October 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 Revenuepublication.