State tax revenues surged by 14 percent in September – a new record  that follows ten months of double-digit growth in a row.

State Treasurer Ken Miller said gross tax receipts of $1.2 billion during the past month are the highest September total on record. Cumulative gross receipts from the past 12 months, at $12.5 billion, are also at an all-time high.

“Oklahoma’s economy continues to climb the expansion side of the business cycle,” Treasurer Miller said. “As we saw last week with the ratings outlook upgrade from negative to stable by Moody’s Investors Service, the state’s economic and policy improvements are being noticed well beyond our borders.”

Compared to September of 2017, every category of revenue increased, ranging from 110 percent in gross production taxes on oil and natural gas to 0.1 percent in motor vehicle taxes. Twelve-month gross receipts show healthy increases in collections in all major tax sources compared to the prior period. Revenue from higher tax rates approved in House Bill 1010XX last March added $48.7 million to monthly collections – 4.2 percent of September gross receipts.

The biggest share, $31.2 million, came from the increase from 2 percent to 5 percent in the incentive tax rate on oil and natural gas gross production. Raising the tax on gasoline and diesel fuel generated $8.3 million, and the $1 per pack hike in cigarette taxes added $9.3 million to the bottom line.

Oklahoma’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.7 percent in August is down by one-tenth of a percent from July.

Gross income tax collections, a combination of individual and corporate income taxes, generated $410 million, an increase of $42 million, or 11.4 percent, from the previous September.

Individual income tax collections for the month are $320.3 million, up by $22.9 million, or 7.7 percent,. Corporate collections are $89.7 million, an increase of $19.1 million, or 27.1 percent.

Sales tax collections, including remittances on behalf of cities and counties, total $409.4 million in September. That is $25.3 million, or 6.6 percent, more than September 2017. Gross production taxes on oil and natural gas generated $105.3 million in September, an increase of $55.2 million, or 110 percent, from last September. Compared to August reports, gross production collections are up by $33.4 million, or 46.5 percent. Motor vehicle taxes produced $60 million, up by $35,012, or 0.1 percent, from the same month of 2017.

Other collections, including use taxes, taxes on fuel, tobacco, and alcoholic beverages, produced $168.6 million during the month. That is $18.9 million, or 12.7 percent, more than last September.