For the first time in months, Texas’ sales tax revenue increased when compared with the same period last year despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Monday.
Texas collected $2.98 billion in sales tax revenue in July — 4.3% more than in July 2019. That revenue, which mainly reflects purchases made in June, was “better than expected, despite the high unemployment due to the pandemic,” Hegar said in a statement.
“The increase was due to a surge in collections from the retail trade sector,” he said, noting that collections from e-commerce "were up sharply" as consumers shopped online. More online marketplace and remote retailers, Hegar said, were required to collect and remit Texas taxes on their sales thanks to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to collect sales tax from online retailers that don't have a physical presence inside their boundaries and two Texas laws that went into effect in October.
