Monthly sales tax revenues in Texas are up 8.5 percent from May 2013, marking the 50th straight month of state revenue growth according to Comptroller Susan Combs.
The state collected $2.45 billion in sales taxes in May, of which $621.5 million will be distributed back to local government entities.
“Sales tax growth was evident across all major economic sectors,” said Combs in releasing the data. “The growth was led by the retail and wholesale trade sectors, the oil and natural gas mining sector, and the services sector.”
Texas is one of only seven states in the union that does not levy any personal income tax on wages, making the sales tax the predominate revenue source for state government. In addition to collecting state revenues, the Comptroller’s office is responsible for collecting local sales taxes on behalf of more than 1,400 cities, counties and other local government entities.
Year-to-date revenue growth between 2013 and 2014 is 5.4%.
Follow Michael Quinn Sullivan on Twitter @MQSullivan.