Local sales tax revenue was down slightly for the City of Seminole in November, but use tax, which is based largely on purchases made online, increased by more than 100 percent.

According to the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) the city’s sales tax disbursement for January totaled $439,786.94, down 3.7 percent from one year ago when the amount was $456,762.05. This month’s distribution was based primarily on November tax receipts.

The city also received a use tax disbursement this month in the amount of $72,760.65, an increase of 108 percent over last January’s amount of $34,901.98.

Use tax is collected when good are purchased – online or otherwise – from outside of Oklahoma then used or consumed within the state.

The spike in use tax revenue is an indicator that more consumers are shopping online rather than visiting brick and mortar stores, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the country.

Seminole County saw increases in both sales tax and use tax revenue with the January OTC distribution. The county received a sales tax disbursement of $230,167.94, up five percent over last year when the amount was $219,096.89. The use tax disbursement totaled $42,419.48, up 68 percent over January 2020’s amount of $25,232.61.

Sale tax collections around the county

Bowlegs: $2,259.62 (+19%)

Cromwell: $5,009.16 (+27%)

Konawa: $29,659.32 (+16%)

Maud (Seminole County. Portion only): $9,580.47 (+12%)

Wewoka: $67,136.15 (+7%)

The cities of Konawa and Maud also received use tax distributions this month that were higher than what was received one year ago. Konawa received

Konawa received $10,292.30, a 94 percent increase over January 2020 and Maud realized a whopping 227 percent increase with a disbursement of $1,301.65.

The City of Wewoka saw use tax decrease by 43 percent with a disbursement of $12,760.63. In January 2020, the amount was $22,344.55.

The January distribution of sales tax collections by the OTC primarily represents local tax receipts from November business.

Companies that remit more than $2,500 monthly in sales tax receipts are required to file and pay electronically. The monies they reported this period represent sales from Nov. 16 – Nov. 30 and estimated sales from Dec. 1 – Dec. 15.