(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today released the Tax Exemptions and Tax Incidence report, as required by state law.
The report estimates the value of each exemption, exclusion, discount, deduction, special accounting method, credit, refund and special appraisal available to payers of Texas’ sales, franchise, motor vehicle sales, oil production and gasoline taxes, as well as property taxes levied by school districts.
“In previous biennia, my office has released this report at the beginning of the legislative session,” Hegar said. “But given the complex revenue and spending matters Texas lawmakers will be facing, including issues such as school finance, pensions and infrastructure, I thought it important to get this report to members of the Legislature well before the session begins. With more than six weeks until the 86th Legislature convenes, my office stands ready to assist lawmakers as they begin to lay the groundwork to tackle these critical issues.”
For fiscal 2019, aggregate exemptions for these revenue sources will total an estimated $59.8 billion. Of this amount, exemptions related to the state taxes included in the report will account for $45.6 billion; school property tax exemptions will account for the remaining $14.2 billion.
Nearly $16 billion of the estimated fiscal 2019 amount represents sales tax exemptions for items taxable under other law, including insurance premiums, motor vehicle sales and motor fuels. Exemptions from the sales tax on those items are estimated to be worth $7.2 billion, $4.4 billion and $3 billion respectively.
Other exemptions from the sales tax include $9 billion in raw materials used in manufacturing, $3.2 billion in food for home consumption and $1 billion worth of over-the-counter drugs and prescription medicines and devices.