2023 Sales Tax Report

Sales tax continues to be a critical revenue for counties and other local governments in New York.

The following report is a comprehensive analysis of sales tax data and trends across New York’s 57 counties and New York City.

The report provides a year-over-year comparison of sales tax receipts and per-capita sales tax collections in every county, analyzes sources and trends in sales tax collection and provides an overview of the importance of sales tax in county budgets.

The report notes that, looking ahead, counties will need to be cautious as they put their spending plans together in 2024 and beyond as:

• growth in sales tax slows to pre-pandemic levels;
• the possibility of a recession (while diminished from a year ago) remains;
• consumers have spent most of the one-time federal aid they received during the pandemic, and student loan payments held in abeyance for more than three years will restart in October, impacting 45 million people that owe $1.8 trillion, and
• county ARPA funds are being exhausted. Finally, the 57 counties will have to contend with new recurring state-imposed costs of $600 million annually in the coming years.