March 19, 2020      5:14 PM

Amid coronavirus outbreak and business restrictions, some lawmakers ask Texas Comptroller to defer sales tax payments

The pushback from Hegar is straightforward: “My office is charged with allocating local dollars back to communities fighting on the frontlines of this outbreak…they rely heavily on these dollars to operate hospitals, police, fire and other emergency services.”

Some lawmakers from both parties are now concerned that Texas businesses’ sales tax bills are coming due right as many are either laying off or furloughing workers amid the coronavirus outbreak. We’ve now heard the concerns of some Democrats just as Republican members of the Texas House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to Comptroller Glenn Hegar asking that he “waive all penalties and interest for monthly sales taxes due tomorrow, March 20, 2020 for sales taxes not paid on time.”

It is not an idea Comptroller Hegar sounded open to at all, particularly given the needs of local government entities – especially hospital districts – during a public health crisis.

By Scott Braddock

Copyright March 19, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved