North Dakota’s Tax Department reports an 11.5 percent increase in 2nd quarter taxable sales and purchases, compared with the 2nd quarter in 2021.
For April, May and June, taxable sales and purchases were $5.9 billion.
Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus said the increase is due to a combination of things. He said one is "pent-up demand."
"Consumers are actually able to make purchases on things that were not available due to the pandemic because of supply-chain issues," Kroshus said. "Also, they had cash in-hand that they reserved during the pandemic, and I think, overall optimism."
Kroshus said 13 of the 15 major industry sectors reported taxable sales and purchases increases. He said it was led by the mining and oil extraction sector, which reported a nearly 38 percent increase over the second quarter in 2021.
Kroshus also said on-line purchasing continues to grow. He said the state is now collecting more than $100 million annually in sales tax from on-line retailers.
"It's a continuation of what not surprisingly occurred during the pandemic, when people weren't able to go out and shop — go to stores physically, for a variety of reasons," Kroshus said. "And I think buying habits continue to change — there's no question about that."
Of the state's largest cities, Minot led the way, with an increase of 5.5 percent. Fargo saw a 1.7 percent increase, and Grand Forks saw an uptick of 0.6 percent. Bismarck was down slightly, by 2 percent.
