Released March 2010, Revised May 2010

State Government Tax Collections in 2009

The data and technical documentation for this release

can be found at <http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/>.

GOVS/10-2

Total State Tax Collections See Decline in 2009

State tax collections totaled $715.2 billion in fi scal 

year 2009, down 8.5 percent from the $781.6 billion 

collected in fi scal year 2008. Although fi scal year 

2009 state revenue fi gures have yet to be released, 

in 2008 total state tax collection accounted for 48.2 

percent of the total state government revenue. 

In fi scal year 2009 fi ve states reported a positive 

increase over the previous year’s tax collections. The 

reasons for each state’s year-to-year increases vary, 

for example in the case of Wyoming and North Dakota 

increased tax revenue was largely due to strength in 

severance tax revenues, which are taxes imposed for 

the extraction of natural resources measured by value 

or quantity of products removed or sold. In contrast, 

fourteen states experienced a decrease of 10.0 percent 

or greater in year-to-year tax collections. No state had 

year-to-year tax revenue declines of this magnitude 

Total State Tax Collections by Category

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 State Government Tax 

Collections.

Other Taxes Property Taxes

Corporation Net 

Income Tax 

Individual 

Income 

Tax 

Total Licenses 

Select Sales and 

Gross Receipts 

General Sales 

and 

Gross Receipts

in 2008. The majority of these states reported 

decreases across the board and particularly in major 

revenue categories such as sales and gross receipts 

and individual income tax. Alaska is an exception 

to this case where a 44.8 percent drop in severance 

tax revenue was the largest category to decrease. 

At $245.9 billion, individual income tax remained the 

single largest source of state tax revenues in 2009, 

down 11.7 percent from 2008. General sales and 

gross receipts taxes accounted for $228.1 billion, a 

decrease of 5.4 percent from 2008. Corporation net 

income tax decreased 20.7 percent, to $40.3 billion in 

fi scal year 2009. Since 1992 the distribution of state 

tax collections, by tax category, has remained relatively 

constant, with individual income accounting for an 

average of 33.7 percent of total tax revenue, general 

sales and gross receipts taxes measuring 32.6 percent, 

and corporation net income taxes at 6.3 percent. 

Regionally, in fi scal year 2009, individual income 

tax was the largest revenue source among states 

in the Northeast, West, and Midwest, accounting 

for 46.5 percent, 35.1 percent, and 34.3 percent 

of total tax revenue, respectively. General sales 

and gross receipts tax was the largest contributor 

to tax revenue among states in the South, making 

up 38.9 percent of total tax revenue in 2009. 

States

Total tax percent change

FY09 increases

Wyoming 14.9%

North Dakota 4.4%

Oregon 1.9%

Iowa 1.3%

South Dakota 0.9%

FY09 decreases of 10 percent or greater

Alaska –41.2%

Arizona –17.9%

New Mexico –14.1%

California –13.9%

Idaho –13.1%

Virginia –12.0%

Connecticut –11.4%

Utah –11.2%

New Jersey –11.2%

Massachusetts –11.1%

Georgia –11.0%

Florida –10.9%

South Carolina –10.4%

North Carolina –10.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 State Government Tax Collections.

1Total state government revenues and fi nances will be released in the 

fall of 2010 with the results from the fi scal year (FY) 2009 Survey of 

State Government Finances. 
2

Tax Classifi cation and Use

The state tax categories include taxes on property, 

sales, license, income, and other. Each of these 

tax categories is broken down into subcategories. 

For example, sales and gross receipts taxes are 

distinguished between general sales and gross receipts 

tax, as well as motor fuel sales, alcoholic beverage 

sales, public utilities sales, insurance premium sales, 

tobacco product sales, pari-mutuels sales, amusement 

sales, and other selective sales and gross receipts.

The state tax data discussed throughout this paper 

refl ect national, regional, and individual state 

government aggregates, and it is necessary to 

recognize that diversity in revenue allocations exist 

from state to state. For example, in 2009, between 

13.1 and 77.3 percent of total state tax revenue came 

from severance taxes in the following states: Alaska, 

Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and 

Wyoming; whereas 16 out of the 50 states do not 

collect or impose any severance taxes. In addition, 

while all states rely on various types of selective sales 

taxes, fi ve states (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New 

Hampshire, and Oregon) do not levy a general sales 

tax. Although they may have forms of selective sales 

taxes, seven states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South 

Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) do not impose 

individual income taxes. And four states (Nevada, 

Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) exclude corporate 

net income from taxation. Therefore, the distribution 

of taxation varies from state to state. Because states 

utilize a variety of revenue sources to support their 

programs, the user should be cautious in drawing 

comparisons or conclusions without analyzing the state’s 

overall economic and demographic characteristics.

Sales and Gross Receipts

Selective sales taxes totaled $114.3 billion, a decrease 

of 2.7 percent from 2008. Motor fuels sales taxes, 

the largest share of selective sales taxes, dropped 3.0 

percent, to $35.4 billion. In fi scal year 2009 only nine 

states reported a positive increase in motor fuels tax, 

compared to the twenty-six states in 2008. Despite 

any positive revenue collections made by increases in 

state motor fuels rates, declines in total motor fuels 

sales resulted in the third consecutive year of revenue 

decrease nationally. Conversely, tobacco products sales 

taxes increased 3.9 percent to $16.7 billion, where 

increases in state tobacco product rates off set any 

decline in consumption. Alcoholic beverage sales taxes 

registered a 1.1 percent growth and stood at $5.3 billion. 

Insurance premiums sales taxes reported one of the 

largest sales and gross receipts declines in 2009, 

dropping 6.6 percent to $14.7 billion. Regionally, 

states in the South are the most heavily dependent on 

insurance premium sales tax revenue, reporting 5.3 

billion in 2009, a 12.1 percent decrease from 2008. 

Tobacco product sales tax revenue was the 

highest in the Midwest at $4.7 billion dollars, 

however the Northeast reported the largest 

increase in these revenue taxes at $4.5 billion, 

an 11.8 percent increase from 2008.

License Taxes 

License taxes totaled $49.7 billion, an increase of 0.2 

percent from 2008, with revenue from motor vehicle 

license taxes making up the largest share of total 

license taxes, at $19.9 billion in 2009. All regions, 

with the exception of the South, reported an increase 

in motor vehicle licenses in 2009. Corporation licenses 

accounted for roughly one-fi fth of total license taxes 

at $10.0 billion in fi scal year 2009, refl ecting a 

2.5 percent decrease from 2008. This was the fi rst 

decrease in corporate license taxes in over 16 years. 

The South reported $7.1 billion in corporate license 

taxes in fi scal year 2009, by far the leading region for 

corporation license revenue; followed by the Midwest 

region at $1.7 billion in corporation license revenue.

The subcategory of amusement licenses includes 

licenses on any amusement business, including 

one-time casino start-up fees and annual license 

obligations. In 2009 amusement licenses decreased 

25.3 percent nationally, to $0.7 billion. Regionally, 

amusement licenses varied dramatically. In 2009, the 

Southern region revenue from amusement license 

taxes increased 124.8 percent to $0.2 billion, while 

the Northeastern states saw amusement license 

taxes decrease 73.1 percent, to $0.1 billion.

Total License Taxes

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 State Government Tax 

Collections.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2009

Billions of dollars
3

Income Tax Collections 

Individual income tax made up 34.4 percent of total 

state tax revenue in fi scal 2009, dropping 11.7 percent, 

the fi rst decrease in individual income tax since fi scal 

year 2003. A year-to-year decrease in thirty-nine of 

the forty-three states 2 that administer an individual 

income tax was a primary reason for the decrease in 

total tax collections. California, Arizona, and Tennessee 

reported the sharpest percent decline in individual 

income tax in 2009, decreasing 23.2 percent, 42.5 

percent, and 23.8 percent from 2008 respectively. 

Corporation net income tax declined for the 

second consecutive year, dropping 20.7 percent, to 

$40.3 billion. Additionally, of the forty-six states 3

that implement a corporation net income tax, 

thirty-nine states had a decrease of 10.0 percent 

or greater in 2009. All four regions reported a 

decrease in corporation net income tax from 2008, 

with the West down 22.9 percent to $12.2 billion, 

the South down 20.6 percent to $9.0 billion, the 

Midwest down 26.8 percent to $7.5 billion, and the 

Northeast down 16.1 percent to $11.6 billion.

 

Property Taxes 

Although property taxes are primarily a local 

government tax, several state governments impose 

property taxes on large multijurisdictional enterprises, 

such as Pennsylvania’s tax on utility property. Other 

states, such as Michigan and Vermont, impose a 

property tax to fi nance elementary and secondary 

education state-wide. Accordingly, property taxes 

at the state government level accounted for 1.8 

percent of total state government tax revenues in 

fi scal year 2009, compared with property taxes 

accounting for 71.4 percent of total local government 

tax revenue in the 2007 Census of Governments. As 

such, property taxes were one of the few categories 

that increased in fi scal year 2009, up 3.7 percent to 

$13.2 billion. State property tax revenue includes 

any tax imposed on the ownership of property 

measured by its value, whether it be real property or 

personal property, automobiles, stock, land, etc.

2Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, 

and Wyoming do not collect an individual income tax. 

3Nevada, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming do not collect a 

corporation net income tax.

Other Taxes 

Other taxes totaled $23.7 billion in fi scal year 2009, a 

decrease of 25.3 percent from 2008. Severance taxes 

accounted for 56.6 percent of total other taxes in 

2009, but were down 26.5 percent from 2008. This 

decline in fi scal year 2009 follows seven consecutive 

years of increasing severance tax revenue, and a 65.2 

percent increase from 2007 to 2008. Additionally, 

documentary and stock transfer revenue, revenue 

from mortgages, deeds, and securities, decreased 36.0 

percent, and recorded the largest percent decline of 

any tax category in all four regions. Death and gift 

taxes decreased 8.5 percent. 

Note to Data Users

Analysis using total tax or per capita tax as a measure 

of tax burden on the citizens of a particular state can 

be misleading and misinterpreted. Diff erent states 

use diff erent approaches to taxation, and comparing 

only the total taxes collected by each state is not 

enough to understand the economic impact of those 

states’ taxes. The U.S. Census Bureau’s statistics on 

state tax revenues refl ect the taxes a state collects 

from activity within the state, not necessarily from 

the individuals within a state. For example, the 

state of Florida’s general sales and gross receipts 

revenue is highly reliant on tourism from out of 

state residents, and therefore using a per capita 

amount for this sales and gross receipts tax would 

be misleading to describe the tax burden for the 

state’s citizens. A similar case occurs in the state of 

Alaska, where severance tax is paid solely by oil and 

gas companies that operate within the state and not 

the citizens of the state, thus a per capita fi gure is 

not refl ecting the true burden upon the citizens. In 

each of these cases, per capita should be seen not as 

a burden on the citizen but rather a refl ection of the 

portion of tax imposed on behalf of each citizen. 
4

Source and Accuracy of the Data

The data in this report are from a complete census 

of all state governments. Most of the data were 

gathered by a mail canvass of appropriate state 

government offi ces that are directly involved with 

state-administered taxes. There are approximately 

one hundred offi ces that are canvassed to collect 

data from all fi fty states. Follow-up of nonresponding 

units is done by mail, telephone, and e-mail.

Because we do not sample state governments, the 

data are not subject to sampling error. However, 

despite eff orts made in all phases of collection, 

processing, and tabulation to minimize errors, the 

survey is subject to nonsampling errors such as the 

inability to obtain data for every variable for all units, 

inaccuracies in classifi cation, mistakes in keying 

and coding, and nonresponse errors. To mitigate 

these errors, the Census Bureau edits the data for 

inconsistent data and to correct or verify outliers. 

The overall Unit Response Rate to the 2009 State 

Government Tax Collections was 82.0 percent. 

In determining the unit response rate, a unit was 

determined to be a respondent if it provided 

information on at least three of the major tax 

categories for that state government. This unit 

response rate was calculated for the total United 

States, and gives the percentages of the units in 

the eligible universe that actually responded to 

the survey. In cases where data are not provided 

in a direct response, data are imputed by using 

administrative records and supplemental sources.

The Total Quantity Response Rate was also 

calculated for the tax categories for each state. 

This response rate is the proportion of the total of 

each tax category reported by units in the survey 

or from sources determined to be equivalentquality-to-reported data expressed as a percentage.

The Census Bureau’s quality standard on releasing 

data products requires a 70 percent Total Quantity 

Response Rate (TQRR) for key items. The 2009 Annual 

Survey of State Government Tax Collections had a 

TQRR of 100.0 percent for all but one tax category. 

Occupational and Business Licenses, Not Elsewhere 

Classifi ed (T28) had a TQRR of 99.4 percent.

For information on State Government Tax Collections 

methodology, please see <http://www2.census.gov

/govs/statetax/2009stcmethodology.pdf>.

Contact Information

For additional information on State Government Tax 

Collections, please visit us at <http://www.census.gov

/govs/statetax/>. 

To contact us, please call 1-866-820-7210 (toll free) or 

e-mail us at <govs.statetax@census.gov>.
5

2009 Totals for Selected State Government Tax Revenues

(In thousand dollars) 

The data in this table are based on information from public records and contain no confi dential data. Although the data in this table come from a 

census of governmental units and are not subject to sampling error, the census results do contain nonsampling error. Additional information on 

nonsampling error, response rates, and defi nitions may be found at <http://www2.census.gov/govs/statetax/2009stcmethodology.pdf>.

State and U.S. summary Total general sales 

tax

Individual income 

tax

Corporation net 

income tax Severance tax

Documentary and 

stock transfer tax

 United States . . . . . . . . 228,103,798 245,923,681 40,264,935 13,438,451 4,951,504 

Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,069,535 2,662,759 493,972 115,374 36,347 

Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –– 632,123 3,829,564 – 

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,675,531 1,961,537 592,187 19,481 25,954 

Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,765,996 2,238,958 346,215 33,547 24,613 

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,972,302 44,355,959 9,535,679 27,105 – 

Colorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,123,671 4,403,446 329,545 285,015 – 

Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,290,050 6,376,921 444,061 – 86,699 

Delaware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – 910,693 208,677 – 56,586 

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,228,000 – 1,836,800 81,300 1,328,300 

Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,306,491 7,801,185 694,717 – 16,503 

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,461,618 1,338,702 78,597 – 23,773 

Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,206,137 1,175,604 142,240 4,952 – 

Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,470,532 9,183,002 2,752,353 – 40,641 

Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,205,638 4,313,759 838,974 162 – 

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,201,396 2,703,190 264,365 – 13,858 

Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,227,183 2,731,559 370,889 142,658 – 

Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,857,665 3,315,368 389,634 355,985 3,166 

Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,963,758 2,940,633 612,545 911,433 – 

Maine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,012,357 1,370,710 143,086 – 17,787 

Maryland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,851,341 6,478,236 749,001 – 115,670 

Massachusetts . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,880,087 10,599,085 1,789,553 – 135,595 

Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,472,405 6,025,015 649,228 59,343 114,538 

Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,375,200 6,948,119 779,055 45,820 160,953 

Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,026,497 1,485,592 324,301 113,762 – 

Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,030,477 4,771,576 278,661 18 8,576 

Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – 827,196 164,255 349,714 – 

Nebraska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,504,174 1,602,091 198,442 4,718 10,934 

Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,684,029 – – 145,450 71,043 

New Hampshire . . . . . . . . . . . – 98,191 493,431 – 84,128 

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,188,990 10,663,866 2,397,471 – 355,394 

New Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,887,343 932,442 203,584 931,832 –

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,073,898 36,840,019 4,427,675 – 829,727 

North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,963,434 9,560,353 901,445 1,740 36,038 

North Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607,171 370,165 129,542 827,417 – 

Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,328,388 8,323,352 521,363 11,052 – 

Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,162,693 2,544,576 342,762 1,067,182 12,822 

Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – 5,434,777 258,778 13,038 11,395 

Pennsylvania . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,496,182 9,550,238 1,740,532 – 349,181 

Rhode Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814,511 960,885 108,497 – 7,149 

South Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,910,183 2,351,324 219,484 – 34,524 

South Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756,598 – 48,772 7,668 163 

Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,356,962 221,685 816,261 2,413 138,055 

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,034,946 – – 2,338,481 – 

Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,744,035 2,319,632 245,880 102,121 – 

Vermont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321,162 532,911 86,759 – 26,472 

Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,372,974 8,918,232 633,490 1,997 313,594 

Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,035,359 – – 29,681 415,415 

West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,110,017 1,557,403 420,530 376,677 8,537 

Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,087,144 6,222,735 629,524 4,211 37,374 

Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989,738 – – 1,197,540 – 

– Indicates that a state does not collect this type of tax.

Source: 2009 Survey of State Government Tax Collections. Data users who create their own estimates using data from this report should cite the 

U.S. Census Bureau as the source of the original data only.