Oil and Gas Tax Collections Rebound Slightly While State’s Overall Collections Hit 6-year Low

Oklahoma State Treasurer Ken Miller announced Monday that the monthly gross receipts reached a six-year low for the month of May while oil and natural gas gross production collections finally rose slightly over the month.

But Miller also said all major revenue streams, income, sales, gross production, and motor vehicle taxes are lower than May of 2015. The monthly bottom line has been less than the same month of the prior year for 13 consecutive months.

“As a general indicator of economic activity in Oklahoma, the May Gross receipts to the treasurer report contains no surprises as the state deals with the ongoing spillover effects of the supply-driven energy industry downturn on income and consumption,” explained Miller.

The gross production tax payments were lower than payments of a year ago by nearly 37 percent. They totaled $24.1 million in May which was a drop of 36.7 percent from a year earlier. Compared to April, the collections increased by $3.2 million or 15.6 percent. The slight increase came after oil and gas gross production collections hit a 17-year low in April.

The jump in gross production taxes compares to individual and corporate income tax payments which are down more than 9 percent and sales tax collections that are off 6 percent.

Miler said for a ninth consecutive month, the 12-month gross receipts to the treasury are lower than the prior 12-month period. The gross receipts in May totaled $782.5 million, a drop of $61.1 million or 7.2 percent from May 2015.

Gross income tax collections generated $246.9 million, a drop of $25.2 million or 9.2 percent from May a year earlier. Personal income tax collections totaled $237 million, down $6.3 million from the previous year.

Sales tax collections came to $335.4 million for May, or $21.3 million below May 2015. Motor vehicle taxes were down 1.2 percent, bringing in $58.8 million.

The 12-month collections also showed dismal results. Oil and gas gross production collections brought in $377.1 million for the past year, a drop of 49.1 percent or $363.2 million from the previous period.

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