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California taxable sales totaled $108.6 billion in the first quarter, up $1.4 billion (or 1.3 percent) from the first quarter of 2009.
The last quarter of positive growth in year-over-year taxable sales was the second quarter of 2007, when such sales rose 0.9 percent.
Additionally, more recent data indicate that a more pronounced recovery in taxable sales has occurred since then.
Specifically, Board of Equalization staff has developed an estimate of statewide taxable sales for the first quarter of 2011, based on cash receipts.
Taxable sales are estimated to have risen 8.5 percent in the first quarter of 2011 over the same period a year earlier, the best showing since the 3rd quarter of 2005 (when taxable sales rose 10.1 percent). The estimated level of statewide taxable sales for the first quarter of 2011 is $117.8 billion.
“The beginning of positive growth in retail sales is indeed a welcome indicator of our state’s continued economic recovery,” said First District Board Member Betty T. Yee. “Nevertheless, for those Californians who are not yet experiencing the signs of positive economic growth, the Board of Equalization continues to provide assistance to taxpayers and small businesses wherever we can.”
The first quarter 2010 report shows regionally, the counties in the San Francisco Bay Area had the strongest growth, rising 2.6 percent (twice the statewide total), while those in Southern California rose 0.9 percent.
Growth was generally weaker in the interior counties of the state; taxable sales in the San Joaquin Valley declined 0.5 percent (the only region to experience a decrease).
First quarter 2010 taxable sales in the nine-county Bay Area region’s major cities varied widely. For instance, taxable sales in San Jose increased by 8.5 percent, but those in San Francisco rose only 0.1 percent, and taxable sales in Oakland declined by 1.7 percent.
Taxable sales in most of the counties in the First Equalization District increased in the first quarter of 2010 on a year-over-year basis, including the following counties: Humboldt (+20.4%), Santa Clara (+7.6%), Marin (+3.7%), Trinity (+6.3%), San Benito (+2.1%), San Luis Obispo (+1.7%), Del Norte (+2.3%), Napa (+1.9%), Santa Barbara (+1.5%), Mendocino (+0.8%), San Francisco (+0.1%), Sonoma (+0.5%), Alameda (+3.3%), San Mateo (+1.6%), Santa Cruz (+3.6%) and Monterey (+3.2%).
Conversely, taxable sales in the first quarter of 2010 decreased in some counties in the First Equalization District, including: Solano (-4.6%), Yolo (-3.2%), Lake (-2.2%) and Contra Costa (-1.5%).
The Board of Equalization has now completed its process of converting business codes of sales and use tax permit holders to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, and the first quarter of 2010 is the first time that year-over-year percentage changes are available by industry.
Gasoline station sales in the first quarter of 2010 increased over 30 percent, the largest gain of any major category.
Taxable sales made by gasoline stations were $10.3 billion. The average price of gasoline at the pump increased 40 percent during the first quarter of 2010, which lifted total taxable sales made by service stations. Gallons of gasoline purchased in the first quarter of 2010 actually decreased slightly, dropping 1.0 percent from the first quarter of 2009.
Clothing and clothing accessory stores had the next largest increase, 7.9 percent, followed by general merchandise stores (which rose 4.5 percent) in the first quarter of 2010.
Taxable sales at general merchandise stores represent the largest nondurable retail category, and totaled $10.2 billion in the first quarter of 2010.
First quarter 2010 taxable sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers were essentially flat, rising 0.7 percent. Within this category, taxable sales of used car dealers rose 10.4 percent, while those of new car dealers were much more muted, rising only 0.4 percent.
Taxable sales in the first quarter of 2010 made by building materials dealers and gardeners slipped 0.1 percent, while those of furniture and home furnishing stores declined by 0.5 percent. Electronics and appliance stores saw taxable sales decline by 5.5 percent.
Sales from “all other outlets” (comprised primarily of manufacturing and wholesale businesses) in the first quarter of 2010 were down 4.8 percent, to $33.6 billion.
Taxable Sales in California is a quarterly report on retail sales activity in California, as measured by transactions subject to sales and use tax. It includes data about statewide taxable sales by type of business, as well as data about taxable sales in all California cities and counties.
To view all taxable sales in California, visit: www.boe.ca.gov/news/tsalescont.htm.
