State Sales Tax Revenue Totaled $4 Billion in March

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2026

State Sales Tax Revenue Totaled $4 Billion in March

(AUSTIN) — Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock today said state sales tax revenue totaled $4 billion in March, 10 percent more than in March 2025. The majority of March sales tax revenue is based on sales made in February and remitted to the agency in March.

“State sales tax collections in March grew at the fastest rate since February 2023, propelled by a robust Texas economy with growth once again well above the rate of general price inflation,” Hancock said. “Growth was particularly strong in sectors influenced primarily by business spending for the second month in a row, while receipts from the retail trade sector grew at their fastest pace since the pandemic.”

Receipts from the sectors mainly affected by business spending were all up significantly compared with a year ago. The wholesale trade, construction and mining sectors were all up double digits compared with last March, and the manufacturing sector was up approximately 7 percent.

The retail trade sector, the largest sector, was up more than 9 percent compared with March 2025. This marks the largest monthly gain for the sector since June 2022 when remittances were still coming out of the pandemic lows. Receipts from the electronic shopping subsector were notably robust, coming in more than 16 percent higher than the same month a year ago. Also strong were collections from clothing and accessory stores, health and personal care and general merchandise stores. Remittances from the services sector were up nearly 9 percent compared with last March.

Receipts from restaurants were up more than 7 percent from a year ago, well above the rate of inflation for food away from home.

Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in March 2026 was up 6.9 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 — $415 million, down 23 percent from March 2025;
• motor fuel taxes — $303 million, up 3 percent from March 2025;
• oil production tax — $378 million, down 11 percent from March 2025;
• natural gas production tax — $180 million, down 38 percent from March 2025;
• hotel occupancy tax — $65 million, up 12 percent from March 2025; and
• alcoholic beverage taxes — $142 million, up 2 percent from March 2025. 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 Revenue publication.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin

Contacts

• Caity Jackson
• Karen Hudgins
• Kevin Lyons
• 512-463-4070
• 800-531-5441 ext. 3-4070