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Census presentations explain state finance surveys, QTAX, and new excise tax products
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Summary
Rob Simon outlined the Annual Survey of State Government Finances (ASFIN), the QTAX quarterly tax product, and experimental cannabis excise‑tax tables; he highlighted state examples (California, Georgia, New York) and noted release timing and new data visualizations.
Rob Simon, survey statistician for state finance and quarterly tax surveys at the U.S. Census Bureau, presented state finance and tax data products, demonstrated interactive visualizations, and highlighted several state examples illustrating how policy choices affect tax revenues.
Simon described the Annual Survey of State Government Finances (ASFIN), which collects state expenditures, revenues and debt for all 50 states and compiles national totals. He said ASFIN standardizes diverse state reporting into common functional categories such as judicial, highways, public welfare, hospitals and higher education, enabling cross‑state comparisons.
Using unit‑level data examples, Simon demonstrated classification code 45 (toll highways) and explained how code subcategories capture revenue and expenditure components (E45 for maintenance, F45 for construction and land). Simon showed QTAX (quarterly summary of state and local tax revenue) tools with data back to 1992 through 2025 Q1 and recommended table 3 (state tax collections by tax type) for quick state comparisons.
Simon used state examples to illustrate policy impacts on tax receipts: California motor fuel tax collections show seasonal patterns and an overall increasing trend, while Georgia’s repeated gas tax holidays in 2022 (March 18–May 31, extended through 2022) and measures in 2023 and a short 2024 holiday led to multi‑quarter drops in motor fuel revenue and an estimated ~$750 million shortfall in 2022. He also noted New York’s large sports betting tax receipts (presenter cited a 51% tax rate on sportsbook profits) and said total sports betting/parimutuel revenue across states surpassed $1,000,000,000 in 2025; the presenter pointed attendees to the next QTAX release (Q2 2025) on Sept. 11.
Simon introduced an experimental table tracking cannabis excise tax revenue by state (data since 2021), emphasizing that legal cannabis markets do not always imply an excise tax (Hawaii) and that some states (Alabama, Delaware) have legal mechanisms but no collections due to ongoing legal challenges. He highlighted interactive visualizations on census.gov that let users compare tax categories, identify states where cannabis excise taxes exceed 1% of total revenue, and export data for further analysis.
Simon concluded by noting that ASFIN and QTAX feed the Bureau of Economic Analysis and support national and regional GDP estimates, personal income/outlays and other macroeconomic measures.
