New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office has announced that the sales tax revenue rose by 12.7% last year, reaching $22.1 billion statewide. According to the report, the strong revenue is a reflection of how consumer shopping has been impacted by inflation and higher prices.
“The pandemic created significant sales tax volatility over the past few years, first with a major decline, then with a strong rebound. Sales tax growth has remained strong for a sustained stretch as consumers resumed spending relatively quickly after pandemic shutdowns ended. Additionally, the state implemented policies just before the pandemic that ensured more online sales were being fully taxed,” DiNapoli said.
The report found that sales tax growth increased by 8.8% in the final three months of the year compared to the same period in 2021, which had already seen similar year-over-year rates. Despite a decrease in consumer demand for goods during part of the year, the prices consumers were paying continued to rise, leading to year-over-year growth in collections.
New York City’s sales tax growth increased by 20.6% last year, outperforming the rest of the state. According to DiNapoli, every county had some year-over-year revenue increases as well, with most county governments seeing increases ranging from 4% to 10%. Yates County saw the strongest increase of more than 20%.
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