The economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic is starting to be reflected in the state’s tax revenue data. Arizona's hotel and restaurant taxes show major declines.
The most recent data accounts for taxes collected in March, so it only reflects the first few days of the governor’s stay-at-home order. But this March, the state collected less than half the hotel taxes it collected last March.
Taxes on amusements, which include sporting events and concerts, were also down more than 50% year over year for March. Restaurant and bar taxes were down 34%.
Ed Greenberg with the Department of Revenue said the state saw an overall decline across all transaction privilege tax categories in March.
“Approximately $1.03 billion in revenue was collected. That was down about 5.8% from the same period in 2019," Greenberg said.
Arizona's transaction privilege tax revenue for the fiscal year to date is actually still up nearly 7% over 2019. But a more complete picture of the pandemic’s impact may emerge next month, when April tax revenue data is compiled.
