Revenue from the sales tax rose 12.7% last year, reaching $22.1 billion statewide in New York, according to Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office on Monday.
The strong revenue report is an indication of how consumer shopping was affected by inflation and higher prices, the report found.
“The pandemic created significant sales tax volatility over the past few years, first with a major decline, then with a strong rebound,” DiNapoli said. “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.”
Sales tax growth in the final three months of the year increased by 8.8% over that same period in 2021, which had also seen similar year-over-year rates.
Though consumer demand for goods was reduced during part of the year, the prices consumers were paying continued to rise, which led to year-over-year growth in collections.
New York City's sales tax growth increased by 20.6% last year, exceeding that of counties and cities throughout the rest of the state after lagging for much of 2021. Every county also had some year-over-year revenue increases as well, DiNapoli said.
Most county governments saw increases that ranged from 4% to 10%. Yates County saw the strongest increase of more than 20%.